Titolo completo

On Strategic Communications

Strategic communications emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s as US policymakers sought a more integrated form of political communication suited to post-Cold War conflicts, global terrorism, and a rapidly evolving information environment. Unlike traditional public diplomacy, strategic communication embeds communication within decision- and policy-making processes. Western institutions such as the United States, NATO, and the EU attempted to reconcile strategic objectives with credibility, transparency, and democratic values. However, strategic communication faces enduring bureaucratic and political obstacles, including institutional fragmentation, polarisation, and populism. These challenges risk reducing strategic communications to a reactive defensive tool rather than a transformative instrument of statecraft.

Paper produced in the framework of the project “New challenges for Italian strategic communication: Ukraine and European security”.