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The field of Strategic Communications Professionals: a new research agenda for International Security

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 August 2018

Nicholas Michelsen  and
Thomas Colley
Nicholas Michelsen*
Affiliation:
Department of War Studies, King’s College London
Thomas Colley
Affiliation:
Department of War Studies, King’s College London
*
*Corresponding author. Email: nicholas.michelsen@kcl.ac.uk
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Abstract

Communication has long been accepted as integral to the conduct of international affairs. The role that discourses, ideas, norms, and narratives play at the systemic level of world politics has been examined extensively. Scholarly interest has now turned to how international actors use political communication tools to create and counter threats, such as propaganda, hybrid warfare, fake news, and election tampering, and it is often taken for granted that states are inferior to their challengers in these domains. To address this, ‘Strategic Communications’ has emerged as a mode of thought and practice promising to enhance state communication; encompassing long-established activities including public diplomacy, public relations, nation branding, and information operations. In this developing field, private sector professionals are increasingly being called on to support and advise governments. Particular attention has been paid to the ‘Big Data’ private companies may have access to, but there has been little IR research examining the experts seeking changes in how strategic communications is practised. Informed by elite interviews with communication professionals across the public-private space, this article sets out a research agenda to fill this gap, enhancing understanding of the expert relationships that shape international strategic communications.

Keywords

Strategic CommunicationsFieldInternational SecurityExpertsAssemblages
Type
Research Article
Information
European Journal of International Security , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , February 2019 , pp. 61 - 78
Copyright
© British International Studies Association 2018 

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