SocialPipeline 05/29/2011 (a.m.)

• Twitter diplomacy new face of foreign relations

  
  Geert Vanden Wijngaert European foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, left, talks with Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt at the start of an EU Foreign Ministers meeting at the EU Council in Brussels, Monday May 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
  When Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt couldn't reach his counterpart in Bahrain by traditional means of communication, he turned to Twitter.
  "Trying to get in touch with you on an issue," Bildt tweeted to Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa early Thursday.
  A shout-out on Twitter _ is this the future of diplomacy?
  "It shows that in the modern world you can seek contact in modern ways," Bildt told The Associated Press.
  Many politicians and diplomats worldwide have already embraced social media as a tool to communicate with the public _ Bildt and others tweeted prolifically Thursday about the arrest of war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic.
  But they don't typically communicate among each other that way.
  So was Bildt's mission to find Al Khalifa on Twitter successful?
  "Yep," Bildt said. Al Khalifa saw his tweet _ Bildt's 1,000th _ and got in touch with the Swede, who noted that social media isn't the only way he contacts his peers: "I know which ones are on Twitter."
  With nearly 32,000 followers, Al Khalifa is something of a Twitter celebrity in his Persian Gulf nation. Many of his tweets during Bahrain's pro-democracy uprisings reflected the Al Khalifa monarchy's viewpoint. But others have contained shout-outs to fellow diplomats, a mother's day greeting and even the occasional travel snapshot.

  tags: SharismBook

  • "Trying to get in touch with you on an issue," Bildt tweeted toKhalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa early Thursday.

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