Jan Pronk and blog diplomacy

The article wonders if the blog can serve as a new kind of "direct diplomacy" and quotes a former diplomat, Craig Murray, who says blogs could be a great tool for diplomats, "You should be able to say more of what you really think - you can't have a cocktail party relationship with a fascist regime."

I'm not sure exactly what to make of this. It's interesting to think of how blogs can provide a government official with a direct line of contact with the public in which they can say exactly what they want. Although it seems thoroughly impractical for diplomats to be airing their grievances in such a format and not expect to meet the fate of Pronk: expulsion from the country. They certainly should not have a "cocktail party relationship" with evil regimes, but I'm not sure how a blog would be an effective way for a diplomat to curtail the activities of such a regime. Isn't it their job to try to work from the inside while the international press and other officials publicize the sins of governments such as Sudan's?

I must say it is funny in a tragic sort of way to hear the Sudanese government accuse a single man of "psychological warfare," as though his blog is really messing with their previously positive mental state.