The New Diplomats: Community Managers

Comparing it to traditional diplomacy, Rachel Happe looks at how companies can look at community management more formally.
 
[...] "While the State Department model may not translate directly to business, it does give one pause. Diplomacy has been seen as an important and valuable tool for hundreds of years. Does government recognize something that business organizations do not? Or is diplomacy dead, in favor of the more transactional and measurable means of power and control - military force? Traditionally force has only been used once international situations escalate beyond the scope of diplomacy because military force has been very costly. Does this suggest perhaps that traditional sales or support models should only be used when community management fails?" [...]