Should Ambassadors Blog?

Oliver Miles thinks not:

[Ambassadors] are not super-journalists, or super-agony-aunts. Their job is to advise their governments on policy, for which deep understanding of the country in which they work is required, to carry out policy and on occasion to advocate and promote it publicly; and to provide a discreet and reliable channel of communication between governments.

Diplomats are laughed at for their “on the one hand, on the other hand” approach, but the problems they deal with are almost by definition controversial and many-sided. Sometimes they have to act quickly, but where possible it is better to think long and hard, and if necessary consult the ministry. As everyone knows who has used them, blogs and email are not conducive to that way of working

Personally, I think embassies should have blogs, but the authors should be professionals dedicated to explaining, in human terms, their government’s policies and actions in host country.

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