This thesis examines whether there is a frame difference in online news coverage of the controversial 2014 Crimean referendum by The New York Times and the Russian newspaper, Kommersant. The research is grounded in framing theory and literature on the attribution of news sources. The study is conducted in two languages and it seeks to examine how media systems, perspectives on the issue, journalistic standards, as well as cultural backgrounds and historical ties influenced framing of the event. Sample online articles from each newspaper were selected and a quantitative content analysis was performed in order to identify the main themes, frames and source attribution patterns in media news coverage about the referendum. The pattern to quote official sources for providing justification and legitimacy to news stories has influenced the coverage in both newspapers: both The New York Times as well as Kommersant heavily relied on their respective government officials and experts. However, The New York Times provided a greater diversity of opinions supporting the values of a libertarian media system. Politics was the dominant theme of the referendum-related articles in both newspapers, however, Kommersant and The New York Times touched on economy and military themes with different frequencies. A comparison between themes in two periods (before and after the referendum) has not shown a meaningful difference for both newspapers. Kommersant’s online coverage was less critical of Russian policies and frequently utilized a set of the For-referendum frames, rarely touching upon Russian military activities on the peninsula. However, the frame depicting breach of international law appeared with the same frequency as the For-referendum frames, showing that Kommersant tried to maintain independence under the Russian neo-authoritarian media system. The New York Times focused on the illegitimate character of Crimean annexation and exposed every move of Russian troops, which is in line with U.S. foreign policy aims. However, the American publications did not hide the cultural and historical ties between Crimea and Russia and frequently mentioned the illegal character pertaining to Ukrainian protests and a temporary government.

This study builds on the idea that discourses have the power to show that national identity did influence the puzzling foreign policy behaviour of India in March 2014 during the Crimean crisis. When analysing the material and illustrating the identified discourses, discourse- theorists Laclau and Mouffe’s framework is used both as theory and method. Discourse analysis has its starting point in the idea that the reality is accessed by the means of language. The use of Laclau and Mouffe’s discursive framework is motivated by the fact that it aims to create an understanding of the social phenomena in question (e.g. the Indian puzzling foreign policy behaviour) by applying discourse analytical tools on texts. Moreover, discourse analysis claims that identities are the result of discursive processes and that political articulation, e.g. foreign policy behaviour, creates the society; ideas that goes well with this paper. Since language is “structured discourses” and because it creates the world which we live in, it is possible to turn to the use of language when conducting a discourse analysis. To decipher which discourses that evolved around the Crimean crisis in March 2014, and to make the connection between national identity and foreign policy behaviour, articles from the three most read Indian newspapers in English are used as material. These articles are triangulated with statements published during 2014 on the homepage of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. This paper tells a rather alternative story compared to that of interest- and power based explanations with roots in realism, since it emphasises that national identity influences foreign policy behaviour. The analysis concludes that two discourses can be deciphered in the material, namely Democracy and Multipolarity, which thus can be seen as elements of Indian national identity. These two discourses imply that the Indian national identity can explain its puzzling foreign policy behaviour in the Crimean crisis in March 2014.

Mediated public diplomacy plays an important role in attaining foreign policy objectives by communicating with foreign audiences in order to establish a dialogue intending to inform and influence. The Russian state-funded global network RT serves as an important tool of Russian mediated public diplomacy. Its purpose is not only to cover major global events that are often missed by the Western mainstream media, but also to apprise an international audience of an alternative pro-Russian perspective. Interestingly, although there are a few researches analysing Moscow's efforts to rebrand its international image in the last decade, there has been very little work done giving a good insight into Russian media. This dissertation seeks to participate in the discussion about public diplomacy in general by applying the framing theory as a tool of mediated diplomacy. A qualitative analysis of 97 articles discussing the effects of international sanctions imposed on Russia in the aftermath of the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis, revealed a constructed pro-Russian narrative. Several strategies are pursued to convince its audience about the rightness of the Russian stance and gain support for the Kremlin's assertions. Finally, RT aims to wipe out the demonisation of Putin and its administration and counterbalance the penetration of the West in its sphere of influence.

This thesis analyses how three television stations - Czech ČT24, Russian RT and American CNN - informed about the Crimean crisis which took place in Ukraine in 2014. The first part of the thesis presents theoretical approach and mentions previous similar studies, which focused on examining of medial coverage and framing of war conflicts. Next chapter describes the history of Ukraine briefly and underlines events which could have caused the Crimean crisis. Thereafter the thesis introduces the timeline of the Crimean crisis. In the next part the thesis analyses sources, topics and keywords which appeared in the news of ČT24, RT and CNN. It also describes how particular people and events were visually covered. In the final chapter the approach of the three examined television channels is compared.

Until 2008, almost two decades since the end of the cold war, Russia still retained old Soviet military structures. Steady opposition by the Russian generals against military modernization and reforms was finally broken in relation with the poor performance of Russian forces during the Russia-Georgian war in 2008. The process of modernization commenced in the following years has important security implications for post-Soviet countries. We could observe the new abilities of the Russian military during the seizure of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. Russian forces had been considered an ineffective institution with outdated military technology where corrupt practices were the rule rather than the exception. As we could see in 2008 Georgia Russian forces depended on numerical superiority and blunt military force. On the other hand during the Crimean events of 2014 the Russian military conducted the whole operation with high level of professionalism, without any bloodshed, and with modern weaponry. This research is based on the theory of neorealism which defines key parameters for performing a military modernization analysis. These include numbers, effectivity and strategy of military forces that help us to determine the current strength and power of each state. Therefore this research focuses on the...

Cette thèse a pour but d’examiner comment les individus utilisent des comparaisons entre des situations actuelles et des situations passées dans des contextes politiques. L’utilisation de telles analogies historiques a longtemps été documentée, en particulier au sein des sciences politiques, en histoire et dans les champs concernés par l’argumentation. Ces littératures ont mis en évidence la fréquence avec laquelle les responsables politiques et autres personnages publics utilisent les analogies dans des buts de délibération et de persuasion. Malgré leur omniprésence supposée, peu d’études en psychologie sociale se sont penchées sur ce processus. Les trois volets de cette thèse ont tenté de combler cette lacune en recourant à diverses méthodologies. Plusieurs études expérimentales nous ont d’abord permis d’investiguer si l’exposition à des analogies historiques influence les prédictions que posent les participants concernant des situations réelles incertaines. Les résultats montrent que l’effet, bien que de faible taille, tend à devenir plus fort à mesure que diminuent les connaissances actuelles des individus. Dans un second volet, au lieu de sélectionner a priori les analogies historiques, nous avons donné la possibilité aux répondant.e.s de générer leurs propres analogies et d’expliquer leurs choix dans des questionnaires récoltés en France, en Belgique et en Allemagne à la suite des deux attaques de 2015 en France. L’analyse des réponses ouvertes montre non seulement une grande diversité dans les manières de mettre en correspondance le présent et le passé – même lorsqu’il s’agit d’analogies avec le « même » événement (e.g. l’attaque du 11 septembre 2001) ;mais les participant.e.s utilisent de plus ces analogies pour formuler des arguments, plus ou moins implicites, par rapport à des débats actuels. Cette dimension argumentative dans l’usage des analogies historiques a été explorée plus avant dans un 3e volet. En analysant les articles du mois de mars 2014 relatifs à la crise de Crimée au sein de quatre journaux belges, nous avons relevé comment les individus s’y prennent pour établir des liens entre le passé et le présent, et comment ils procèdent pour les contester. Ensemble, les trois volets de cette thèse suggèrent que les personnes ordinaires, tout comme leurs homologues plus « experts », ne sont pas passives en utilisant les analogies historiques, mais participent activement, par leur biais, au processus éminemment politique de construction et de contestation des passé(s), présent(s) et futur(s). / Doctorat en Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This thesis presents a discourse analysis of American perceptions of Russia in their historical and contemporary context. Through the linguistic construction of security offered by the Copenhagen School of Securitization, we can trace the socio-political development of Russia as the threatening other in the American discourse. This thesis has demonstrated the consistency of linguistic devices in the American Russia discourse from the 18th century to the Crimean Crisis, and has identified specific linguistic packages which securitizing actors unpack according to their preferences and goals in a given situation. This thesis also demonstrates that the resecuritization of a previously desecuritized object may occur through the use of preexisting discursive devices that play on existing elements of the national consciousness. Keywords Resecuritization, Securitization, United States, Russia, Socio-Political Discourse, Crimean Crisis, Copenhagen School, Obama Administration, Vladimir Putin Range of thesis: 121 pages, 34,048 words, 240,229 keystrokes.