Ann-Marie Ekengren

What happens when a new government enters office? A comparison of ideological change in British and Swedish foreign policy 1991–2011

This study analyses to what extent a change of government in times of unchanged international structure affects the ideology of foreign policy. The main contribution is to investigate the role of political culture, as reflected through institutional design, as an intervening variable. Effects of changes of government in the United Kingdom in 1997 and 2010 and in Sweden in 1994 and 2006 is studied by analysing speeches in the General Debates of the UN General Assembly. The analysis is based on four ideal types. The results indicate that institutional design is an influencing intervening variable of foreign policy ideology. In the UK, a country dominated by majoritarian institutional design, foreign policy ideology changes more extensively in times of government change than in Sweden, a country dominated by consensual institutional design.

Power, identity, modernity. Individualisation and destabilisation in a globalised world

In what is called, with an almost worn-out word, a globalised world, individualisation and destabilisation seem to be the two most central traits in both politics and society, internationally as well as within nation states. Destabilisation and individualisation are rooted in the communicational revolution and the way in which this has changed the prerequisites for the exercise of power and identity formation in today’s world. The globalisation effects on different types of political power distributions are still under scrutiny (Aday and Livingstone 2008). Some researchers argue for a strengthening of democracy, while others have a much more negative view on the effects of globalisation (Held et al. 1999, Bentivegna 2006). Some state that since the depth of the communication revolution and the media situation tend to vary significantly in different contexts, it is impossible to generalise their relationship to democracy. Whether or not globalisation leads to structural and policy convergence is still at the centre of debate (Graber 2003, Brundin 2008). Theoretically, individualisation manifests itself on the international level as an ever-stronger position of human rights, at the expense of state sovereignty (Risse et al. 1999). Nationally, individualisation means, for example, an increased importance of the specific competencies of the individual in the labour market and a decreasing interest in collective political activities (Bjereld and Demker 2006, 2008). Internationally, destabilisation manifests itself as a loosening up of the sovereignty of the nation state, increased importance of different types of transnational networks and a weakened position of the state sovereignty-based international law (Berlin 2007, Brundin 2008). Nationally, destabilisation means a loosening-up of the class structures of the industrial society and of the traditional professional roles and cleavages that came with the national and industrial revolutions (Bjereld and Demker 2006, 2008). In an ever-abundant discourse on globalisation it is only rarely that one finds questioning of why and in what way the communicational revolution has contributed to an increased destabilisation and individualisation of politics and society. Also, there is still a lack of empirical research into the development of destabilisation and individualisation over time. In this special issue the articles try to formulate and test hypotheses about individualisation and destabilisation in politics and society. Our aim is to increase our understanding of the communicational revolution’s

Mixed Logics at Play in Libya

The second qualitative empirical chapter contains a case study where the foci is directed toward the different narratives regarding the discussions on intervention/nonintervention in Libya. This case study focuses particularly on the narratives concerning UNSC resolution 1973 (17 March 2011) regarding Libya. Here the decision went in a more active direction compared to the decision on Cote d’Ivoire, including a large-scale military intervention.

The Scope Conditions of Mediatized Foreign Policy

The literature on mediatization is reviewed in order to specify the argument that part of this literature is too general in its claims about the effects of mediatization. Then the chapter turns to literature on foreign policy roles that equip the analysis with the tools needed to theorize about how and to what extent foreign policy roles can be expected to adopt media logic. Such an elaborated discussion of when foreign policy roles may or may not be expected to adjust to mediatization and adopt media logic could help us refine the mediatization concept, which has so far been used in too general terms. Three scope conditions under which decision-makers are more or less likely to change their foreign policy roles or develop new ones are identified: uncertainty, identity and resonance.

Mediatization in the United Nations General Assembly

The fourth chapter is devoted to an empirical examination of the scope conditions on a more general level using quantitative content analysis across time and cases. Using a comparative approach, the chapter explores how and to what extent foreign policy roles adopt media logic. To expand on the question on the scope conditions of mediatization, approximately 20 years of speeches in the UNGA, from the early 1990s to 2011, are studied. The results in this chapter indicate that mediatization resulting in the adoption of media logic in the political rhetoric does not occur consistently. Instead, there is clear evidence supporting the likelihood of mediatization and the adoption of media logic under certain scope conditions.

Political Logic at Play in Côte d’Ivoire

The findings in Chap. 4 direct the searchlight in the remaining parts of the book. The first qualitative empirical chapter (Chap. 5) contains a case study where different narratives regarding the discussions on intervention/nonintervention in Cote d’Ivoire are analyzed. More precisely, this case study focuses particularly on the narratives concerning UNSC resolution 1975 (30 March 2011). The decisions behind this resolution rendered a different direction compared to that of Libya - which resulted in an intervention. (Chap. 6), with a more passive stance in the case of Cote d’Ivoire based on a traditional blue helmet operation.

Design and Methodological Concerns

In the methodological chapter, the case selection is discussed, together with the methodological tools and data used. Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom (UK) are introduced as foreign policy actors that together represent a significant variation in a European context in terms of political culture, media culture and power in international politics. This case selection makes it possible to discern the variations of the scope conditions of mediatization in a European foreign policy context.

Mediatization of Foreign Policy Decision-Making

In the introductory chapter the central argument of the book is introduced: the need to empirically study the scope conditions of mediatization. Based on this discussion, the aim of the book is defined and the central concepts of mediatization, media logic, scope conditions and foreign policy roles are introduced. Here media logic is contrasted with political logic.

Conclusion: Toward a Theory on the Variation of Mediatization of Foreign Policy

In the final chapter the findings are summarized. The results are situated in relation to the theoretical argument regarding the need for a more narrowly defined research agenda concerning the mediatization of politics. Based on these results, the analysis is concluded with a call for a renewed research agenda for the study of the mediatization of politics in general and foreign policy in particular.