Prof Corneliu Bjola

Prof Corneliu Bjola

Fellow

Professor of Digital Diplomacy

Profile

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. 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. Recently, he has been exploring the role of artificial intelligence in diplomacy, examining how AI can reshape key diplomatic functions, including international negotiations, crisis management, and public diplomacy. His work investigates how AI-driven tools can enhance decision-making, optimize negotiation strategies, and improve crisis response mechanisms, while also addressing the challenges AI poses, such as ethical concerns and the risk of algorithmic bias in diplomatic communications.

His most recent publications include The Oxford Handbook of Digital Diplomacy (Oxford University Press, 2024, co-ed.), which provides 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 organizations."

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 UNITAR, the Digital Cooperation Organisation, United Nations System Staff College, the Commonwealth, the International Labour Organization, and the United Nations Population Fund.