Time for Blogging Diplomacy?

(NOTE: I've cross-posted this article from the Poynter Institute's group weblog, E-Media Tidbits, which I edit. That blog is read mainly my news media pros -- hence the references to "your news organization.")

On Aug. 23, Chatham House (a leading U.K. think tank on international affairs) published an intriguing assessment of the current and future role of Iran in the Middle East. The report, "Iran, Its Neighbours, and the Regional Crises" (pdf download, release), faults the U.S. for misapplied power:

"On hostility with the US, the report argues that while the US may have the upper hand in 'hard' power projection, Iran has proved far more effective through its use of 'soft' power. ...The Bush administration has shown little ability to use politics and culture to pursue its strategic interests."

Report contributor Ali Ansari, interviewed this morning on NPR's Morning Edition, noted: "Western policy towards the Middle East shows a complete lack of imagination. There is a world of opportunities between neglect and military action which has yet to be fully explored."

I was particularly struck by this perspective because I've recently started reading a fascinating new book, We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs, by Nasrin Alavi. It's a compilation of poignant entries from Iranian blogs, mostly translated from Farsi. Reading them, I see a stunning thoughtfulness and diversity -- as well as deep insight into world affairs, and hope for the future.

Maybe it's time for a little blogging diplomacy...

You may be as surprised as I was to learn that Farsi is one of the most popular languages in the blogosphere, according to the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education, which maintains the statistical resource Blog Census.

The book notes that "Blogging in Iran [and among expatriate Iranians] has grown so fast because it meets the needs no longer met by the print media."

These Iranians -- who often blog at great personal risk -- are worth getting to know. Especially now, as the headlines are filled with high-level political posturing over nuclear concerns, with scant attention to the people of Iran.

If your news organization is covering the Iranian nuclear standoff, it might be a good idea to start looking beyond official pronouncements and cultivate sources among the best Iranian bloggers. If no one on your staff reads Farsi, there is a huge selection of English-language blogs by Iranians. And of course, get a copy of We Are Iran -- it's still fairly current.

In Farsi, a good starting point is PersianBlog, which compiles many of the most active Farsi-language blogs.

For more insight into Iranian blogs, listen to Jon Gordon's two-part feature, "Blogging in Iran" (Aug. 21 and Aug. 22 on APM's Future Tense).

If the Chatham House report is right, then perhaps blogs might represent a potentially powerful new avenue for person-to-person diplomacy -- especially since, through comments and cross-links, they are conversational media, not mere publishing.

Collectively, people are always more powerful than their governments, as long as they can communicate and coordinate well enough to act in concert. I have a sneaking suspicion that in Iran, China, and elsewhere, blogs may play an increasingly important role in global power struggles. Journalists should keep watching them, even though they're not "official."

News -- even international politics -- is about regular people, too.