Corneliu Bjola

Corneliu Bjola

Corneliu Bjola (PhD, University of Toronto) is Professor of Digital Diplomacy at the University of Oxford and the Head of the Oxford Digital Diplomacy Research Group. He is also a Faculty Fellow at the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California and a Professorial Lecturer at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. His research focuses on the impact of digital technology on the conduct of diplomacy, with a special interest in public diplomacy, international negotiations, and methods for countering digital propaganda. Drawing on the new graduate course (“Diplomacy and Virtual Reality”) he has been teaching at the University of Oxford, Prof. Bjola’s next research project examines the ramifications of the Metaverse for the conduct of diplomacy, especially on its core diplomatic functions of representation, communication, and negotiation.

His most recent publications include the Oxford Handbook of Digital Diplomacy (Oxford University Press, 2024, co-ed), which offers a comprehensive overview of the theory, practice, and future of digital diplomacy across different regions and issues. Another recent volume, Digital International Relations: Technology, Agency and Order (Routledge, 2023, co-ed), explores how digital disruption impacts world order and global governance. Additionally, he has authored or edited several academic books on digital diplomacy, including the twin volumes Countering Online Propaganda and Violent Extremism: The Dark Side of Digital Diplomacy (2018) – listed by BookAuthority among the 20 Best New International Relations Books to Read in 2019 – and Digital

Diplomacy: Theory and Practice (2015). His co-edited volume Digital Diplomacy and International Organizations: Autonomy, Legitimacy and Contestation (Routledge, 2020) examines the broader ramifications of digital technologies on the internal dynamics, multilateral policies, and strategic engagements of international organisations.

He has been invited to lecture at various universities around the world such as the Harvard Kennedy School, University of Southern California, Pardee School for Global Studies at Boston University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University, Simon Fraser University, London School of Economics, NYU Abu Dhabi Institute, Peking University, and China Foreign Affairs University and others. He has conducted training sessions for the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Diplomatic Academies in U.K., European Union, Germany, Greece, Georgia, Spain, Israel, Lithuania, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Honduras, Bahrain, Romania as well as for international organisations such as the Digital Cooperation Organisation, UNITAR, United Nations System Staff College, the Commonwealth, the International Labour Organization, and the United Nations Population Fund.

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  • Organization
    University of Oxford
  • Profession
    Professor for Digital Diplomacy
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