State Department’s Alec Ross: Leveraging social media for 21st century statecraft
If the recent election protests in Iran taught us anything, it’s this: Social media is radically changing the way citizens around the world interact. That’s something Alec Ross knows first-hand. He frequently cites a term for it: 21st century statecraft. As senior advisor to the Secretary of State for Innovation, Ross’s job is to maximize the potential of technology in service of US diplomatic and development goals. “We refer to this as 21st century statecraft,” says Ross. “In a networked century we now have the ability to connect with the globe’s citizens in ways we weren’t previously able,” he adds. Here Ross offers his take social media, and how it can play a role in connecting US citizens as ambassadors to people around the world.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The only way to advance US values is to share them with the broadest number of people. “In the year 2009 that means using social media,” says Ross.
- Tools like SMS messaging shows how technology can allow people to engage diplomatically in ways which weren’t possible years ago, says Ross.
- The private sector is at the core of most social media initiatives, says Ross. “The organizations delivering the products and services are from the private sector,” he adds.
“21st century tools can materially advance our diplomatic and development goals.” — Alec Ross, US State Department
ExecutiveBiz: What’s the State Department’s goal for social media?
Alec Ross: To bring us into closer contact with more of the world’s people. It’s increasingly the case that people, particularly young people, get their information online from social media interactions. If social media is where people communicate and engage, that’s where the State Department needs to engage people in order to advance our message and foreign policy interests. The only way to advance our values is to share them with the broadest number of people. In the year 2009 that means using social media.
ExecutiveBiz: In areas of the world like Afghanistan and the Swat Valley in Pakistan that are hotbeds of anti-Americanism, the State Department has embraced technology like SMS messaging and the text “swat” program. How can we use technologies like these to win hearts and minds in the Middle East?
Alec Ross: One of the great learnings from the text “swat” program was that the American people can be a great asset and resource in advancing our interests abroad. In the case of text “swat,” people were able to send a text message that just said “swat” to the short code 20222 and a donation of $5 was made to the UN High Commission for Refugees, which played a major role in refugee relief in the Swat Valley. Letting people in the Swat Valley know that they were being supported directly by the American people increases the esteem in which they hold us. That was early and exciting proof for how technology can allow people to engage diplomatically in ways which weren’t possible years ago.
ExecutiveBiz: Does the State Department have any plans to expand programs like micro credit and mobile banking to leapfrog from a cash culture to a cashless society in Third World countries?
Alec Ross: The State Department played the lead role in helping to bring mobile banking to Afghanistan. One of the challenges as we’ve seen in Afghanistan has been typical of cash economies, like corruption, for example, and a lack of efficiency in the marketplace. The State Department played the lead role in bringing mobile banking to Afghanistan. I recently returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo and we’re investigating the possibility of supporting efforts to bring mobile banking to Central Africa. There is enormous possibility and promise through both microfinancing and mobile banking. As we think about how we can modernize our development programs in the 21st century by using the tools of our time, certainly mobile banking and microfinance are at the top of that list.
ExecutiveBiz: What role will Web 2.0 technologies play in “smart power”?
Alec Ross: “Smart power” is really about using all of the instruments of global engagement, not just defense but also diplomacy and development. In terms of diplomacy, Web 2.0 tools can help us more effectively connect and engage with more of the globe’s citizens. In the area of development, generation-leaping technologies are being put in place in the developing world. Once of the exciting things we are seeing is the degree to which it concretely impacts quality of life measures. For example, for every 10 percent increase in mobile telephony in the developing world we see a corresponding increase of 0.8 percent in GDP. That’s a big deal. I’m not proposing that we just spray cellphones hither and yon, but these digital tools can be a strong platform from which we can build our development efforts.
ExecutiveBiz: Is there anything the private sector can do to help with these initiatives?
Alec Ross: The private sector is at the core of most of these initiatives. I don’t think it’s the role of the State Department to create new technologies. We can do connect and convene, but the organizations delivering the products and services are from the private sector. Social media, for example, is almost always a private sector concern. The mobile banking initiative that we supported in Afghanistan, while we played a connection and a convening role and while we helped play a public policy role, this is an effort with the private sector at its core.
ExecutiveBiz: You described the State Department’s efforts thus far as the “beginning of a larger conceptual shift in diplomacy.” What’s the next step?
Alec Ross: To define and demonstrate. Define what it means to practice 21st century statecraft and then demonstrate it. I think we’ve done a good job in defining 21st century statecraft. We now need to prove the world around how this works — not just in pilots or one-off programs but to develop and demonstrate in models that show how 21st century tools can materially advance our diplomatic and development goals.
ExecutiveBiz: What’s something most people don’t know about you?
Alec Ross: The roots for all of the work that I’m doing began when I was a sixth grade teacher in inner-city Baltimore in the early 1990s. I witnessed then that no matter how much money in your pocket or what your racial or ethnic background, young people have an incredibly intuitive use of technology. All of the work I’m doing globally, and all of the work that I’m doing in public policy, stems from my experience in a sixth grade classroom in inner city Baltimore.
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