New Media and Peacemaking Diplomacy

A life full of peace has always been a dream for human societies. Peace is still considered as one of the main modern world concerns, because each nation deals with its own kind of violence and war. Therefore, peacemaking has turned into one of the governments’ objectives. Peace has been affected by various factors in all over history. Media and communication technologies are two of the factors that influenced the peacemaking process in the past five decades. They play an important role in the efforts made towards peacemaking because they act as mediators amongst nations, governments, civilizations, organizations, and people. New media have turned into an important factor in the peacemaking process in terms of its widespread effects and extensive capacities. The new media’s importance is on a rise considering its presence in and effects on various aspects of our lives, like political, economic, and social dimensions at sub-national, national and international levels. It has also turned into an important instrument for performing the countries' foreign policies due to its features, along with earning a critical role in peacemaking diplomacy. The media could both be the harbinger of peace and the underlying cause of war with respect to its diverse functions. It could preach peace by sending peace messages inside and outside of the borders, and also by creating a peaceful notion in the people’s minds.