Narratives play an important role in shaping and expressing political identity, perspective and ideology as well as in the ways in which the international order is depicted and constructed. More specifically, in the Political Communication and International Relations literature, it is widely believed that the strategic narratives of international actors serve not only to represent the sequence of events and identities, but are also used as important communication tools by political actors to project values. and their interests. manage expectations and also change the discourse contexts in which they operate. Strategic narratives go beyond expressions of material interests, shape an actor's self-concept, and set expectations about an actor's role in the world and how he or she should be recognized. They serve to achieve political goals and influence the behaviors of others toward specific outcomes. Understanding different strategic narratives about key world events provides valuable insights not only into how international actors perceive these events, but also helps researchers make scientifically informed predictions about how foreign policy decisions are made.
Despite the obvious importance of strategic narratives to conflict and global security, there has been a notable lack of comparative studies examining the strategic narratives of different international actors on security-related issues. To bridge this gap, this project seeks to leverage digital humanities methodological tools to compare and contrast United States and European Union strategic narratives about Russia's war in Ukraine. Given the fact that the US and the EU have different interests in Ukraine, and that this divergence is evident from the actions on the ground and the statements of the political leadership, a comparison between the EU and the US regarding their positions on the Ukraine crisis is particularly necessary . Based on these premises, this project examines the following research questions: (1) What strategic narratives have been disseminated by United States and European Union foreign policy sources regarding Russia's war in Ukraine? (2) To what extent are these strategic narratives consistent and or competing? (3) What are the key policy areas that the US and the EU have prioritized in the narrative of Russia's war in Ukraine? (4) Do strategic narratives influence foreign policy decisions in the US and the EU?
Principal Investigator
Xuechen Chen, School, London, Politics and International Relations
