Strategic Narratives, Soft Power, and Foreign Policy

Abstract

Abstract Communication is central to Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) and International Relations (IR). Soft power has faced criticism on its methodology and whether its core claims contribute to IR explanations. Strategic narrative analysis explains how actors make sense of their past, present, and futures through circuits of communication over time. This allows explanation of core IR concepts like legitimacy, authority, and the likelihood of actors forging projects. Strategic narrative contributes to FPA repositioning itself within IR. This chapter, first, explains soft power and strategic narrative, their theory and methods, and their position within FPA and IR. Second, the chapter demonstrates how strategic narrative is practiced by a wide range of actors. Foreign policy-making is adapting to international communication pressures. Finally, the chapter looks at how strategic narrative analysis can explain how actors respond to policy challenges. Attention to narratives and their circulation can explain the conditions within which policy is made, legitimated, and contested.