Strategic narratives are vital for states to frame issues, goals, and preferences to convey a rationale for military actions in global conflicts. Russia’s warfare in Ukraine, coupled with the rise of Telegram as an independent information platform, has fostered the rise of military bloggers within the Kremlin-controlled media ecosystem. This thesis explores the role and functioning of these military bloggers in shaping strategic narratives during the Russo-Ukraine war. To do so, the thesis compares three critical junctures in the war as case studies using a mixed-methods approach. The thesis has found that milblogs operate within a pre-determined strategic narrative framework outlined by the Kremlin. The findings further indicate that while operating within this frame, the Telegram operators have the capacity to shape strategic narratives and, at times, are the driving force behind the official narrative production. The study provides new insights into the Russian information environment by shedding light on the milbloggers' roles as legitimators, amplifiers, and, at times, opposition. While de-monopolizing the information environment to include milbloggers has served the Kremlin well so far in the war, giving up power might pose severe problems for the Kremlin in the future, potentially impacting the outcome of the war in the long run.

To explore strategic narratives of the U.S. and Russia is a motivation for this research. The study investigates whether there is a return to the Cold War rhetoric between the West and Russia, or if the discourse has taken a new form. A primary goal is to examine if media originating from the two countries spread propaganda, but mainly to detect what kind of propaganda it is. The research compares types of propaganda techniques that are most commonly applied by RT and CNN, and discusses results in a context of the Cold War propaganda prominent themes. This has been done by comparing how the two media outlets were reporting on a crash of a Malaysian Airlines aircraft in eastern Ukraine on July 17th 2014. A method of a framing analysis has been applied for a material from both channels for a period of four months. The results indicate that a number of propaganda techniques are used by both RT and CNN. Moreover, channels’ discourse is antagonistic, while strategic narratives of the U.S. and Russia nowadays have similarities and differences comparing to the Cold War times. Further research should look at other genres, events and topics reported by the two media.

Information is power in the 21st century and strategic narratives through framing are nowadays regarded as part of the modern armoury of war. States constantly compete to create credible narratives in support of their actions on the international policy arena. After the Crimean crisis in 2014 the world was forced to open its eyes to medias new usage in modern warfare. State funded news agencies play an important role in this recent development and one of the most prominent actors is Russia. This thesis seeks to contribute to the discussion of strategic narratives and framing in the news media through a case study of the Russian news site Sputnik News. The thesis focuses on the news agency’s depiction of five empirical events in which the Swedish and Russian armed forces were involved during 2014 and 2015. A qualitative analysis of 25 news articles discussing the five events has detected proof of pro-Russian framing processes. The aim of Sputnik News seems to be a transformation of the general Swedish frame regarding Russia itself and perhaps more specifically Russia’s recent change in foreign policy.

Information is power in the 21st century. The on-going “information revolution” has forced states to adapt to the new world arena and to the following demand of being able to use information strategically. This study aimed to contribute to the lack of research regarding the Swedish case, and thus give a greater understanding of how Sweden tackles information warfare campaigns. The study examined two cases: The host-nation-agreement between Sweden and NATO (2016) and the Swedish military exercise, Aurora 17 (2017). The study applied a qualitative analytical method to: firstly, identify the Swedish strategic narrative by using governmental policy documents; secondly, identify the Russian intrusive narrative by looking at two cases using editorial articles of RT and Sputnik International, and finally analyze the Swedish way of handling the intrusive narrative, using an ideal type analysis method.  The study confirmed that Russia, through state-owned media, intervened and tried to undermine the Swedish strategic narrative in both cases. The study concluded that Sweden’s strategy to counter these actions is moving from a previously passive approach – to a more antagonistic approach towards the sender of the intruding narrative. However, the study also concluded that Sweden is lacking a coherent strategy to handling these kinds of threats.

This paper seeks to explore why the people of Switzerland have preponderantly voted in favour of a strong military defence despite the reality of Swiss security in the 21st century being dependent on international collaboration outside the military arena. The conundrum is answered by determining the Swiss Federal Council’s strategic narrative regarding security, through examination of its explanatory texts in voting booklets between 1978 and 2020, finding that the matter of armed neutrality is a red thread. Either neutrality is used as justification of an act supported by the Federal Council, or that neutrality would be harmed by popular initiatives the Council does not endorse.

This study intends to examine China’s use of religious violence and antiterrorism when constructing a narrative of the situation in Xinjiang. While the tensions in Xinjiang are not a new occurrence, their intensity has undoubtedly increased. Human Rights Watch has described it as a “cultural genocide” and several international actors have condemned Chinas treatment of the minority group Uyghurs. While China seems to portray the tensions as a result of several acts of religious terror, there are traces of a more complicated conflict. Furthermore, the study shows that the conflict was rarely described as the result of terrorism before the September 11 terrorist attacks, despite the conflict starting in the early 1990s. At the same time, researchers have claimed that Islamic fundamentalists have been adopted as something of a global antagonist, and the fear of religious violence has been recognized as a threat that needs to be stopped, even if it demands more violence. Thus, this study is concerned with studying how this has been acknowledged in a global setting and used by global actors as a strategic tool to vindicate controversial actions. The study illustrates how religious violence and antiterrorism have been used in the creation of a strategic narrative by China. Strategic narratives have been described as the soft power in the 21st century and a well-suited methodological tool to form a deeper understanding of soft power in international relations. The study is done through a text- and narrative analysis of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ testimony of Xinjiang. The results show that extremist religion and terrorists have been pointed out as a main threat in Xinjiang, while separatist also has been linked to these two. By doing this China has managed to acknowledge its measures against the Uyghur separatist movement as a part of the global war against terror.

This thesis contributes to the digital and narrative turn in International Relations, supplying a response to the inquiry ‘Which strategic narratives have emerged in Ukraine’s digital diplomacy following the February 2022 Russian invasion?’ The paper observed how the field of politics is revitalised by the interplay between political communication during times of incertitude, digital diplomacy and the trend of personalisation. The thesis evaluated different approaches taken by prior theorists of these spheres and leveraged their knowledge in order to respond to the research question. The treatise employed a qualitative content analysis upon 12 presidential speeches, 4 parliament addresses and 10 social media posts. This content was published by Ukrainian elite political figures during the initial phase of the war, between February 24th and March 29th, 2022. This methodology generated three national identity archetypes (NIAs): the ‘hero’, the ‘partner’ and the ‘victim’. The treatise further conceived Ukrainian’s strategic narratives mechanism composed of distinct values, objectives, demands, target recipients, channels and ensuing initiatives, adjacent to these three NIAs, pillars of Kyiv’s political communication. The paper concludes with future directions for strategic narrative research deriving from the experiences of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

Mali, a poor country in the West African Sahel region, has been at war since 2012. What began as an uprising in its sparsely developed northern half has spread to the rest of the country and enveloped large parts of neighbouring countries. Several outside militaries and a UN peace-keeping mission have been deployed to the country, making the Malian government dependent on outside support to maintain territorial control. This thesis analyses speeches delivered in 2012-2023 by Malian state representatives at the United Nations General Debate and United Nations Security Council. Narrative method and theory are used to identify strategic narratives in these speeches, i.e., narratives employed by an actor in international affairs to gain a favourable outcome for that actor. These narratives are identified and contextualised to understand what Mali’s ultimate strategic objectives with deploying them could be. They are put in the context of already existing master narratives, dominant stories told about the country and the region. The thesis identifies two major strategic narratives, one covering 2012-2020, when Mali portrays itself as a democratic country under assault from terrorists, it latches on to dominant narratives on fears of state collapse and the Sahel region as a front line in the war on terror, ultimately seeking to portray its civil war as a matter that should concern the entire world. In late 2020, the military takes control in Mali and a new strategic narrative is employed at the UN. The military regime breaks ties with France, the old colonial master, and employs a narrative that casts Mali as a post-colonial victim of a nefarious French plot to subjugate the Malian state.

China is believed to employ soft power in international politics to facilitate its peaceful riseand enhance its global appeal by leveraging numerous soft power resources. This study challenges the prevailing resource-centric understanding of China’s soft power by employing a constructivist framework wherein soft power manifests via the deployment of strategic narratives. The analysis of China’s strategic narrative projection and its influence on African leaders' policies and perceptions of China is explored with a specific focus on Ethiopia and South Africa using a qualitative content analysis. The findings reveal that China's narrative projection plays a significant role in shaping the portrayal of Beijing's initiatives in Ethiopia and South Africa. The narratives emphasize a historical connection and shared identity, presenting China as a reliable partner committed to trustworthiness and solidarity with the African populace. The study highlights the importance of soft power narratives in the context of multiple powers vying for influence in African countries. Overall, this research provides valuable insights into the deployment of strategic narratives and their impact on shaping perceptions of Sino-African relations.

Russia’s connection to far-right movements is an emerging research area. By looking at the case of Georgia, a strategic narrative approach is employed to further understand this connection in a complex environment of anti-Russian sentiments. By developing an analytical framework looking into strategic narrative alignment, a focus is shifted to communication and storytelling. Russian News Agency TASS and two Georgian movements, Alliance of Patriots and Conservative Movement, are analysed through a narrative analysis and evaluated in how, and to what extent their narratives align. The results unveil echoing stories of a Western villain and future solutions of a Georgia tending to its true national interests. The Russian narrative aligns to a larger extent with the radical right party rather than the extreme right party. Aligning narration in antagonistic purposes can thereby implicate Georgia’s foreign policy direction of Euro-Atlantic integration by facilitation of Russian interests through domestic, far-right movements.