Digital Nuclear Diplomacy

Abstract Despite the continued centrality of nuclear weapons in international affairs—especially at the dawn of a dangerous new nuclear age—there is little attention given to how digital communication technologies have impacted nuclear diplomacy and what this means for the world. This chapter addresses this gap by drawing together scholarship on the intersections of digital diplomacy and nuclear politics to outline and examine the issue of digital nuclear diplomacy, where digital communication technologies have had the effect of changing central aspects of diplomacy around nuclear weapons, crisis, arms control, and disarmament. The chapter first provides a brief history of nuclear diplomacy and the important role of communication technologies in this area. It then introduces the concept of digital nuclear diplomacy, before exploring several case studies of digital nuclear diplomacy, ranging from accidentally published nonsensical tweets sent by US Strategic Command, to how the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons uses Instagram, via how internet users share memes to critique Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats. Ultimately, the chapter demonstrates that nuclear diplomacy in the digital age involves multiple actors, novel technologies, visual media, and the use of humour that all impact nuclear signalling, crisis stability, conflict escalation, and the communication of nuclear issues in important ways. Because of these developments, the chapter articulates a need for multiple, interdisciplinary, and critical perspectives as we move into an uncertain future where digital nuclear diplomacy may shape the future of life, and death, on planet earth.