Seminar in comparative History and politics

Farman, shin

Media & International Relations

 Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3

Media and International Relations...................................................................................................3

I. The Media.............................................................................................................................3

II. International Relations......................................................................................................5

III. Role of Media in International Relations..........................................................................6

1. Media Creating Public Awareness....................................................................................6

2. Media Reducing Cultural Boundaries...............................................................................8

3. Media Enables Economic Growth..................................................................................10

4. Media Shaping International Public Opinion about Iraq................................................11

5. Pros and Cons of Media in International Relations........................................................13

IV. Social Media and International Relations.......................................................................14

Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16

Bibliography..................................................................................................................................17
Introduction

With the advent of technological changes in communication, the perspectives of individuals have
changed respectively. These technological changes do impact the international relations of
different countries. Media is now used to involve people, societies, and governments for creating
awareness within different perspectives like cultures, religions, and economies in the world. It
gives faster access to data individuals. The current paper indicates the relationship between
media and international relations. It consists of brief overviews of media and international
relations individually. It is then followed by the specified role media plays in international
relations. This part includes; how media shape public awareness, reduce overall cultural
boundaries, manage the economic policies, and shape the international public opinion about Iraq.
Besides, the pros and cons of media are also elaborated on impacting international relations.
Social media is also particularized in the paper. Journal articles and published books play an
important part in writing this paper.

Media and International Relations

I. The Media

Media can be well-defined by the roles it plays in society. It assists in educating people,
informing them, and entertaining them with the help of its diverse features. It also shows a
critical role in shaping the public's opinions and smoothing social change. It can highlight
dissimilar issues within and outside the countries which can then impact the lives of individuals 1.
Apart from this, it has been found from different researches that it reinforces the stereotypes and
issues related to gender, religion, and culture. Perhaps, the most important role it plays is that it
observers the enactments of governments to make sure that they adhere to the promises they
made. As a result, this role of media is often the cause of the clash between the state and
institutions2.

The media performs its tasks based on the principles that have been elaborated. These principles
are made regarding the fairness, diversity, accuracy, and representation of the data gathered.
1
Amelia Ellicott, What are the different types of Media? https://www.axiapr.com/blog/what-are-the-different-types-
of-media (last access 8th Aug 2022).
2
S. Khan., N.Z.A. Rahim, and N. Maarop. A review on antecedents of citizen's trust in government social media
services, in 3c Tecnología: glosas de innovacion aplicadas a la pyme, 7(1), pp.109-120.
Perhaps, the aptitude with which it executes these functions completely depends on the legal and
political environments of a definite country. When these frameworks are conductive, people are
open to giving choices and raising voices against any quantified issue. But, when these
frameworks are not being implemented suitably, biases and lack of media diversity can be seen 3.
Also, media ownership is controlled by private organizations, state-owned organizations, and
public media organizations. Most of the time, media is being operated by the rules and laws of
their owners. Privately owned media is guided by market considerations, state-owned media is
run by the state of the country, and the public media is guided by the viewers and listeners who
pay licenses to access the services4.

There are different types of media that most organizations do engage to make their country a
better place. First is the mass media which consists of TV, radio, and print (magazines and
newspapers). Despite the sharp decline in the newspaper globally, they are still an important
source of information for most people. Radio is yet another vital source of evidence for the
altered areas as it has an immense capacity for wider coverage and the ability to integrate a
diverse range of programs5. The second type of media is community media as it can cover and
focus on many issues within a particular community. Yet, a drawback is that it has limited
geographical coverage. Last but not the least, new media is another type of media where people
use the internet, blogs, and emails to access diverse information regarding different aspects. New
media also offers partnerships with telecommunication companies to disseminate critical
information and issues from research which can change the lives of many people6.

II. International Relations

International relations are called the learning of interactions between two or more self-governing
states or countries. To understand it deeply, it can also be stated as all the activities that reside
between the states or countries. These activities can be related to trade, war, foreign policy, and

3
S. Khan., et al, A review on antecedents of citizen's trust in government social media services, 3c Tecnología:
glosas de innovación aplicadas a la pyme, p.112.
4
R. Benson, T. Neff, and M. Hesserus. Media ownership and public service news: How strong are institutional
logic? The International Journal of Press/Politics, 23(3), 2018, p.279.
5
SendPulse. What is Mass Media: Types, Functions, Examples. https://sendpulse.com/support/glossary/mass-media
(last access 8th Aug 2022).
6
A. Ellicott, What are the different types of Media? https://www.axiapr.com/blog/what-are-the-different-types-of-
media, p.3
diplomacy. It also includes the relationships with and among other international actors such as
international legal bodies, international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs),
intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), and multinational organizations 7. Most people relate it
as a sub-discipline of the political sciences because it is related to the laws of individual
countries or states, the global politics, the economies of the countries or states, and the overall
world's history. Yet, international relations itself is a vast subject to handle and understand.

To apprehend it more broadly, the three types of international relation theories need to be
understood. The first theory is the realism theory which proposes that a country or state should
look out for its welfare and benefits on a priority basis. It elaborates that the country or state
must put its interests the foremost of all. In other words, this theory suggests that international
relations are driven by the competition between the countries or states and therefore, a state
should try to understand and put its interests first. Perhaps, it is also pointed out that war is
expected at some point and it is not going away anywhere. Therefore, it is comprehended that the
states should maintain the balance of their powers to preserve peace8.

The second theory of international relations is the liberalism theory. This theory particularizes
that the states or countries are institutionally and mutually dependent on one another through
political and economic ties. It means that despite armed forces, the states can live peacefully and
they do not always bring up war. There are different essences of liberalism. Liberal
institutionalism puts confidence in global institutions to persuade people against the war. Liberal
commercialism sees the advancements of global commerce and makes economies better by
eliminating war. Liberal internationalism focuses on the idea of promoting trade between
different states by reducing war conflicts9.

Lastly, the third theory of international relations is the constructivism theory which points to the
fundamental assumption that the overall system of the world is based on the culture and social
structures like norms, identities, and ideas. Various political bodies like policymakers are
socialized into different roles which define the working of the international system of a state. To

7
Amitav Acharya and Berry Buzan. The making of global international relations. Cambridge University Press,
2019, p.22.
8
Mark. V. Kauppi, and Paul. R. Viotti. International Relation Theory. Rowman & Littlefield, 2020, p.21.
9
Karen A. Mingst, Heather. Elko. McKibben, and Ivan M. Arreguin-Toft, Essentials of international relations. WW
Norton & Company, 2018, p.81.
some extinct, reality is socially constructed, and therefore, people can make their choices freely.
In other words, the approach of the theory is that while the world system is a form of chaos and
anarchy, the people have been given the independence to make their own choices which can
reduce the war conflicts10.

III. Role of Media in International Relations

1. Media Creating Public Awareness

For ages, media has changed the world and made it a better place. For instance; the media has
changed the perception of people to think more critically, interpersonal interactions, social and
political discussions, and communication patterns. It is playing a significant role in providing
massive information to the people regarding political events and engaging them to get involved
in certain political activities where necessary. This not only helps people to understand what is
going on in their country or state, but rather they can also put up their efforts to make their
relations with other countries superior 11. In the beginning, the media was only used by political
bodies as a one-way communication tool to inform anything to their people. However, now
people do also answer back because new media changed the communication patterns. The new
media is called social media where people can get their desired information and respond to
certain information either positively or negatively.

Many people undertake that media frames the politics and different outlooks of many countries.
However, the perspectives of media collapse in many ways such as the commercials, print, and
broadcasts. It is because most of the time the political and international news given to the people
with such mediums is fake. It thus loses the power to elaborate its role in international relations.
Contrary to this point, media can create awareness among the people regarding international
relations and politics if the news given is original and authentic 12. The main strategy of the media
is to gain the attention of the public and for this, countries and states do take every footstep to
engage their audience. The role of media in policy making is decisively addressed by the states
or countries. In actuality, the countries or states are concerned about its impact on decision-
10
Karen A. Mingst, Heather. Elko. McKibben, and Ivan M. Arreguin-Toft, Essentials of international relations,
2018, p.88.
11
Abed Alhakim Isleem Salman Alqaraleh. The Relationship between Social Media and Political Awareness:
Applied Study, 2022, pp. 6622-6635.
12
Han Manor. The digitalization of public diplomacy, New York: Springer International Publishing, 2019, p.22
making in foreign policy, on internal politics, on the improvement of global civilization
authority, on the public space, and broadcasting of political leaders.

Even though media shows a vital role in creating public awareness regarding international
relations, some factors have pointed out the ignorance given to media. It means that lack of
attention or ignorance if given to media may definitely affect international relations negatively
and eventually distress the information delivery to the people 13. The first factor is related to the
ability of media given to work in several languages. Since most countries or states allow their
media to work in their specific language. This may reduce the audience watching or reading the
information regarding international relations. As the audience of other countries may not be able
to understand the information.

The second factor is related to the narrowness of international media which can make data
gathering difficult. When the data from media of other countries are not gathered properly, the
specified media may not be able to deliver respective information and therefore may not create
awareness of the precise event. These two factors point out the importance of learning different
languages. As if the media of one nation knows the international language, it will be easy to
transfer that information to the targeted audience with ease. In other words, it is the
“international media echo” the report in one’s national media regarding what is said in another’s
national media14.

2. Media Reducing Cultural Boundaries

Culture is stated as the expression of modes or nature that an individual country possesses. It can
be seen in the literature, languages, values, beliefs, religious practices, and thoughts of people. It
has two distinctive components; material and non-material. Material culture is composed of
physical objects and materials like a dress, food, household, etc. However, non-material culture
refers to the ideas, thoughts, norms, and beliefs 15. Today, media often drives the way of thinking
and perceptions of individuals. They impact the intelligence of individuals and which in return

13
Filiz Coban. The Role of Media in International Relations: From CNN Effect to the Al-Jazeere Effect.
http://jirfp.com/journals/jirfp/Vol_4_No_2_December_2016/3.pdf (last access 8th Aug 2022).
14
Filiz Coban. The Role of Media in International Relations: From CNN Effect to the Al-Jazeere Effect.
http://jirfp.com/journals/jirfp/Vol_4_No_2_December_2016/3.pdf.
15
Bhavika D. Kariya. Media & Culture. http://14.139.122.13:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/396/1/English
%20Volume-1-97-100.pdf (last access 9th Aug 2022).
impact their overall well-being and living standards in society. Media plays an essential role in
the cultures of many countries around the globe. It is because the culture of one country or state
does expand or spread to other countries with the aid of media. In other words, media assists in
escalating the connection of people within the country and the extension of connection with
people outside their country16. It can be summed up as “media and culture shape each other
simultaneously”.

International relations are extremely affected by the media and cultures. For the reason that
media allows people to understand where their country is being present in global terms and what
culture they are showing to the world. Media has an important impact on different cultures
globally. It mutually develops the cultures of different countries in two interdependent ways. The
first way is that the media offers the wide-ranging diffusion of cultural products outside the
boundaries. While the second codependent way is that it subsidizes the foundation of the social
structures and communication networks outside the boundaries 17. On the contrary, media
sometimes give information about other cultures which at times creates stereotypes negatively.
For example, the stereotypes that the media portrays are; showing Muslims as terrorists and
Africans as illiterate. Yet, it depends on a person what he/she wanted to learn and grasp from the
culture of other countries of the world.

Media has seen today as playing a key role in enhancing globalization. It facilitates the exchange
of culture and multiple flows of information between the countries. It also allows image building
beyond boundaries through international broadcasts films, TV programs, and music. It is
breaking the barriers of time, location, and social context. The spread of information to different
countries via media has made possible new methods of learning, providing knowledge, and
better opportunities. Online media also plays an important role here as more and more people
communicate online and therefore impact the culture globally 18. Additionally, different forms of
communication like messages in the mass media do shape the structure of culture. It can spread
cultural knowledge and works around the globe. It allows people to communicate altered aspects

16
Bhavika D. Kariya. Media & Culture. http://14.139.122.13:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/396/1/English
%20Volume-1-97-100.pdf.
17
Beatrice Copeland. How does Media Influence Culture? https://www.dekooktips.com/guide/how-does-media-
influence-culture.html (last access 9th Aug 2022).
18
Beatrice Copeland. How does Media Influence Culture? https://www.dekooktips.com/guide/how-does-media-
influence-culture.html.
and ideas that are very hard to communicate personally within different languages. This
ultimately reduces the boundaries of different countries around the globe and expands cultures
significantly.

Media and culture are probably the two most frequent terms used to depict human life and
nature. Culture encompasses the beliefs, norms, traditions, languages, behaviors, values, ways of
life, and so on. With the help of media, entities can craft and represent the cultural individualities
within the countries. The narratives of media are made within different forms of images and texts
which are fully associated with the cultural perspectives and perceptions 19. For example, media is
helping in day to day cultural practices of individuals for making their health-care decisions. It
provides a vast amount of information and knowledge of diseases even in different languages.
This can ultimately empower the wellness and well-being of people within countries but with the
help of other countries information and culture.

3. Media Enables Economic Growth

Economic growth is stated as the development of goods and services for the people of a country.
The development of goods and services is produced in correspondence with the total population
of the country. This increases the market value of produced goods and services by improving
inflation concurrently. In other words, the economic growth of a country is the increment in the
income of individuals; the ratio of income and the prices on which goods and services are
produced20. Essentially, the benefit of economic growth is giving better life standards to people.
The higher the real income, the higher an individual will donate resources for areas like
education, health care, etc. Four factors increase economic growth; capital, land, labor, and
entrepreneurship. If the labor or workforce is increased in size, the overall output they produce
for the country will be increased and hence the economy grows. It is the same as for the other
three; if one grows the overall economy will grow in a certain way21.

19
Bhavika D. Kariya. Media & Culture. http://14.139.122.13:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/396/1/English
%20Volume-1-97-100.pdf.
20
Alyt Damstra, Mark Boukes, Rens Vliegenthart. The Economy; How do the media cover it and what are the
effects? A Literature Review, Sociology Campus, 12(5), 2018.
21
Alyt Damstra, et al. The Economy; How do the media cover it and what are the effects? A Literature Review.,
Sociology Compass, 2018, p.65.
Media with its operations and policies, helps countries to grow economically. This ensures
enhanced relationships with other countries around the earth; improved international relations.
Certain bodies or actors like government legislatures and government legal organizations need
accurate and timely information to allocate resources within the country efficiently and
competently22. Also, the investors and other groups demand free will and governance of media to
ensure the information they are providing is truthful and beneficial for the sake of the country.
This ultimately guarantees a massive amount of accurate information and monitoring of the
economic processes leading to better economic policies. Moreover, media can assist in reducing
the economic and political risks and ensures good governance of individual processes. These two
conditions; reducing random risks and make sure virtuous governance, can be considered very
important to robust the economic development of a country23.

Further, the economic growth of many countries has been reduced globally. This has not only
influenced international relations negatively but also impacted the coverage of media. Different
recessions and COVID are the main reason for the slow growth of the economies of countries.
This reduced the coverage of mass and electronic media yet it only positively affects social
media. As most people switched to social media to communicate with the people within the
country and outside the country24. Productivity is considered an important factor in economic
growth. With the help of higher productivity, limited resources can be used more frequently and
this efficiency will lead to more economic resources for people. This productivity can be either
inter-country or intra-country. It means that people from outside the country may also help the
development of the economic growth. For example, foreigners work in other countries to make
money which builds money for the specified country. Yet, when the money is sent to its own
country, the economic condition of the other country increases as well. This is mostly called a

22
Media Development Investment Fund. Media Development’s R ole in Social, Economic, and Political
Progress, https://www.mdif.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Media-Developments-Role-in-Social-Economic-and-
Political-Progress-Literature-Review.pdf (last access 9th Aug 2022).
23
Media Development Investment Fund. Media Development’s Role in Social, Economic, and Political Progress,
https://www.mdif.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Media-Developments-Role-in-Social-Economic-and-Political-
Progress-Literature-Review.pdf.
24
Andres. Vinelli, Weller. Christian E. The Path to Higher, More Inclusive Economic Growth and Good Jobs.
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/path-higher-inclusive-economic-growth-good-jobs/ (last access 9th Aug
2022).
process of giving and taking. It can be summed up as if working beyond the country's
boundaries, strong international relations with other countries can be made25.

4. Media Shaping International Public Opinion about Iraq

Media has its ways and procedures of working. It allows countries to communicate on every
aspect globally which heightens their repute and status. For doing this, media considers and
operates through its outlets that reach the audience more specifically 26. From time to time, the
change in audience behavior over media impacts the global reputation of the country. As if
people are negatively using the information, imperfection can be seen in society. An example can
be BBC, a broadcasting media, that is playing a massive role in serving national and
international audiences for decades. These media outlets broaden their scope of gathering an
audience and influence them within or outside the specific country. They in short portray the
image of a country outside its boundaries27. Moreover, The Financial Times describes itself as
“the world’s leading global business publication” indicating its commitment to serving its audience with
truthful information beyond its UK traditions.

Besides doing a great job, the relation between media coverage and its impact on the people is
yet another aspect to consider. The intervention of media in the coverage of war has resulted in
many negative impacts on humans. Just like of Libyan civil war, or conflict between Iraq and
Afghanistan, etc. The role of media here is undefined and raised many questions and therefore,
impacting the international relations28. A very common mistake that most countries do is that
they at times underestimate the power of media on bad news or facts. They think that the
information will take time to get visible on international media. Yet, in actuality, the information
passes with speed and damages the reputation of a country beyond its boundaries29.
25
Andres. Vinelli, Weller. Christian E. The Path to Higher, More Inclusive Economic Growth and Good Jobs.
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/path-higher-inclusive-economic-growth-good-jobs/.
26
News & Insights. The Importance of International Media in Defining Your Reputation Globally.
https://sandpipercomms.com/public-relations/the-importance-of-international-media-in-defining-your-reputation-
globally/ (last access 9th Aug 2022).
27
News & Insights. The Importance of International Media in Defining Your Reputation Globally.
https://sandpipercomms.com/public-relations/the-importance-of-international-media-in-defining-your-reputation-
globally/.
28
Robinson Piers. Media as a Driving Force in International Politics: The CNN Effect and Related Debates.
https://www.e-ir.info/2013/09/17/media-as-a-driving-force-in-international-politics-the-cnn-effect-and-related-
debates/ (last access on 17th Aug 2022).
29
News & Insights, ibidium, p.3.
Media in Iraq is considered the most important pillar of good government systems. It was
expected to be serving beyond its limitations and thus gaining respect in making international
relations stronger. But what happened is that the media became part of an extensive totalitarian
regime where the power of active political forces, nationalities, influential parties, and ruling
sectors directs. Thus, the state media and private media have become completely intervened 30.
Most of Iraq's media become dependent on the government and political support and lost its
balance. They suffer from crisis every day and makes an immediate emotional impact on public
opinion. Iraq's government acted on the response of individuals and media personnel to exercise
power on them. They arrest, imprison, and filed legal charges along with violating their civil
rights. This pointed out that the government does not give rights to their people and to media to
express their views openly31.

The CNN effect is also an important point to consider in debate when talking about the Iraq
conflict. It was elevated during the 1990s to the intricate humanitarian crisis and foreign policy
decision-making. The first media coverage of Iraqi media was regarding the Kurdish crisis. It is
the first case of UN legitimated humanitarian intervention, but safe places were made to shield
Kurds from attacks by Saddam Hussein's forces 32. In 1991, the decision of attacking Iraq and its
undesirable coverage was done because of the political pressure on the media. Decision-making
of implanting forces was prepared by the policymakers and they felt compelled to respond to
media pressure regarding the humanitarian crisis. Moreover, the media also portrayed the fact
that Iraq was not safe because of geo-strategic concerns as stability in Southern Turkey is
threatened. Thus, the Iraqi Kurdish refugees must quit Iraq. However, it was a tactic to remove
refugees from the border to resolve Turkey's security crisis. Overall, the media influence was
relatively weak and limited to the context where the policies made were uncertain. This
uncertainty and inefficiency of media portrayed Iraq as bad and thus weakened the international
relations with other countries33.
30
Abdihakim. M. Ahmed. The Role of Media in Iraq Conflicts.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340862710_Title_The_role_of_media_in_Iraq_conflicts (last access 17th
Aug 2020).
31
Abdihakim. M. Ahmed. The Role of Media in Iraq Conflicts.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340862710_Title_The_role_of_media_in_Iraq_conflicts.
32
Robinson Piers. Media as a Driving Force in International Politics: The CNN Effect and Related Debates.
https://www.e-ir.info/2013/09/17/media-as-a-driving-force-in-international-politics-the-cnn-effect-and-related-
debates/.
33
Robinson Piers. ibidium, p.2.
 5. Pros and Cons of Media in International Relations

There are numerous advantages and disadvantages of media in international relations. The
advantages are:

 Media has become a global village for people across boundaries. It provides
various platforms for countries to communicate colossal data and information
with ease. Also, it allows expressing numerous facts, used by the government
bodies, without being scared34.
 It prompts the businesses of countries through which they can advertise their
goods and services to the other parts of the world. Through media, businesses can
quickly reach their specific audience and thus makes a strong between the
countries.
 It also helps in promoting art and cultures of different countries excessively. It
offers people the opportunity to learn new things, like learning new languages.
 Media can also allow people to roam around the world without being physically
moving. This may enhance the trust of people over media that it can let them visit
various areas of the world by saving money35.

Apart from these, there are also some advantages of media on international relations which are
elaborated under as;

 Sometimes media is used for disseminating misinformation regarding the

countries. It spreads fake and fabricated information about the countries which
negatively impacts the international relations36.
 Media is most of the time being purchased by rich people or bodies. These people
pay cash which can profoundly impact what an individual will see. This gives rich
people a strong voice than others. In other words, rich people pay media to show
fabricated things which impacts the reputation of a country negatively.

34
Prasanna. Advantages and Disadvantages of Mass Media. What is Mass Media? List of Top 4 Mass Media
Advantages and Disadvantages. https://www.aplustopper.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-mass-media/ (last
access 10th Aug 2022).
35
Prasanna. Advantages and Disadvantages of Mass Media. What is Mass Media? List of Top 4 Mass Media
Advantages and Disadvantages. https://www.aplustopper.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-mass-media/.
36
Prasanna. ibidium, p.3.
  Lastly, media has overtaken personal relationships. It means that people do not
bother to interact or communicate directly, yet they prefer spending time on mass
media and social media. Concerning the countries, most of the time hatred is
spread on media which destructs the international relations37.

IV. Social Media and International Relations

With the advent of the internet in the current era, social media has not only transformed the
social lives of individuals but also political and international relations. For promoting
international relations globally; individuals, political leaders, and diplomats are using social
media platforms more often. They have the intention to gain more audiences by gaining foreign
counterparts. A communication scholar David Bollier stated that " the internet is no longer a peripheral
force in conducting the world affairs, yet it is a powerful engine to bring change ”38. However, social media is
a powerful tool and can construct operational platforms for dialogues by assisting new
procedures for promoting state distinctiveness, interstate gratitude, and intrastate relations.
Where traditional face-to-face dialogues and diplomacy are limited, social media can be used as
an instrument to create a dialogue between states and countries. This will build trust which
ultimately enhances the international relations39.

Nevertheless, social media is a clash for appreciation from many people, both foreign and
domestic. Getting support from one state or country may come at the cost of support from
another one. It promotes global communication between countries, yet is considered a double-
edged sword. On one hand, it builds trust and strong relations among countries and on the other
side it can damage their free will and descriptions 40. Above and beyond, sometimes third parties’
interventions with the help of social media can become very favorable in such conditions. By
intervention, a third party can help to resolve issues between two individuals. Same as with the
countries, a third party can bring and keep peace among two countries or states by promoting
international relations. Social media here can help the third party to look out for the matter
37
Prasanna. ibidium, p.4.
38
Cathy Sun. Social Media and The New Age of Diplomacy.
https://uschinadialogue.georgetown.edu/responses/social-media-and-the-new-age-of-diplomacy (last access 18th Aug
2022).
39
Cathy Sun. Social Media and The New Age of Diplomacy.
https://uschinadialogue.georgetown.edu/responses/social-media-and-the-new-age-of-diplomacy.
40
Cathy Sun. ibidium, p.4.
deeply and get updates on it via different platforms. With this, a third party can easily rectify the
issue quickly and hence promotes brotherhood and international relations41.

Social media has become an integral part of individuals' lives. It is because a growing number of
people around the world are using social media platforms to communicate and get in touch with
one another. Same as with the number of states and countries. Countries and states use social
media to co-ordinate versatile issues on diverse aspects along with the vast amount of data and
information for improving international relations42. While distributing information and
mobilizing messages, social media also facilitates socio-political factors; the dissemination of
misinformation, and political divergence. In other words, the transformative power of social
media in different aspects of the world remained examined. It is because this new medium of
communication is changing from time to time. This can increase massive opportunities for many
countries to harmonize and develop their international relations, yet it can also question the
diplomacy of the global synchronization43.

Conclusion

Media and international relations are the two sides of a coin; they are apart, yet they coincide.
One does impact the other one either positively or negatively. So this essay is written to
understand and elaborate on the relationship or media with international relations. Media impose
different roles on individuals, societies, cultures, economies, politics, and countries overall. The
essay pointed out detailed facts on how media is creating awareness among people on
international relations, how it is reducing cultural boundaries, and how it is bringing stability to
economic growth. Since media has a diverse impact on public opinion, therefore, media's impact
on shaping public opinion on Iraq is also elaborated. Furthermore, advantages and disadvantages
of media are also pointed out which impact the relationships among different countries. Media is
an unknown factor that can change anytime and thus can change anything and at any time.

41
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