The Mediatization of Foreign Policy, Political Decision-Making and Humanitarian Intervention

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

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2. Mediatization of Foreign Policy Decision-Making

   • Douglas Brommesson, Ann-Marie Ekengren

   Pages 1-12

3. The Scope Conditions of Mediatized Foreign Policy

   • Douglas Brommesson, Ann-Marie Ekengren

   Pages 13-31

4. Design and Methodological Concerns

   • Douglas Brommesson, Ann-Marie Ekengren

   Pages 33-46

5. Mediatization in the United Nations General Assembly

   • Douglas Brommesson, Ann-Marie Ekengren

   Pages 47-73

6. Political Logic at Play in Côte d’Ivoire

   • Douglas Brommesson, Ann-Marie Ekengren

   Pages 75-115

7. Mixed Logics at Play in Libya

   • Douglas Brommesson, Ann-Marie Ekengren

   Pages 117-171

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

   • Douglas Brommesson, Ann-Marie Ekengren

   Pages 173-191

9. Back Matter

   Pages 193-206

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This book examines under what scope conditions foreign policy actors adopt media logic. The authors analyze media logic under three specific scope conditions: uncertainty, identity, resonance. First, they lay out the general adaptation of media logic in the general debate of the UN General Assembly 1992-2010. They then explore the adaptation of media logic in Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom concerning the cases of humanitarian intervention in Côte d’Ivoire and Libya, both in 2011. The results indicate the need to move beyond the assumption of a general process of mediatization affecting politics in total. Instead, they point in the direction of a nuanced process of mediatization more likely under certain scope conditions and in certain political contexts.

• decision-making
• foreign policy
• international relations
• intervention
• media
• political communication
• political science
• politics

“By investigating the mediatization of foreign policy comparatively, Brommesson and Ekengren make an important contribution to empirical research on the mediatization of politics and, not least important, its scope conditions. For anyone interested in the mediatization of politics, this book should be considered required reading.” (Jesper Strömbäck, Professor of Journalism and Political Communication, University of Gothenburg, Sweden)

"This important book takes mediatization theory out of its clouds of abstraction, and shows how media logic is conditioned by the complex contexts in which foreign policy is made and publicized. This careful comparison of three nations and two different foreign policy crises shows how media logic works in different cases. The authors develop a dynamic theory that will be used by scholars in the future. This is a must read for students of foreign policy and media.” (Lance Bennett, Professor of Political Science and Communication, University of Washington, USA)

• Lund University, Lund, Sweden

  Douglas Brommesson

• University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden

  Ann-Marie Ekengren

Douglas Brommesson is Associate Professor in Political Science at Lund University, Sweden. His main research interests include foreign policy analysis, international relations and religion and politics. Most recently, he co-edited the volume Global Community? Transnational and Transdisciplinary Exchanges (2015). His articles have appeared in journals such as Cooperation and Conflict, International Politics, the Journal of International Relations and Development, and the International Review of Sociology. 

Ann-Marie Ekengren is Professor in Political Science at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Her research areas are foreign policy decision-making, international relations and party politics. Ekengren is the author of seven books and has published articles in the International Review of Sociology, International Studies Quarterly and Party Politics among others.

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