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Russian aggression or Swedish media strategy?

Fjellander, Staffan LU (2015) STVK02 20151
Department of Political Science
Abstract
Although the Cold War was thought to be a part of history, Russia has in recent years increased their military capacity and activity which is interpreted by the West as a threat which needs to be addressed. This study aims to present how Sweden has changed its view regarding Russia with time and also to explain why this change has occurred. Although Russia may be constituting a larger threat now than ever since the end of the Cold War, this study uses indicia argumentation a long with theories such as framing, Mearsheimer’s theories about lying in international politics and prospect theory to argue that Sweden is implementing a media strategy in order to prepare themselves for an unpredictable future, where threats are exaggerated in order... (More)
Although the Cold War was thought to be a part of history, Russia has in recent years increased their military capacity and activity which is interpreted by the West as a threat which needs to be addressed. This study aims to present how Sweden has changed its view regarding Russia with time and also to explain why this change has occurred. Although Russia may be constituting a larger threat now than ever since the end of the Cold War, this study uses indicia argumentation a long with theories such as framing, Mearsheimer’s theories about lying in international politics and prospect theory to argue that Sweden is implementing a media strategy in order to prepare themselves for an unpredictable future, where threats are exaggerated in order to gain advocacy for one’s policies. By comparing and analyzing material collected from the years 2005-2015, I will conclude that this change is clearly visible over the years with, for instance, increased reporting in the media regarding military activity close to Swedish borders and changed frame in the declarations of foreign policy. Russia may constitute a threat, but the Swedish state is also using this insecurity to change the domestic opinion for its policies. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Fjellander, Staffan LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK02 20151
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Sweden, Russia, Media strategy, Threat, National Interest
language
English
id
5426032
date added to LUP
2015-07-13 12:29:25
date last changed
2015-07-13 12:29:25
@misc{5426032,
  abstract     = {{Although the Cold War was thought to be a part of history, Russia has in recent years increased their military capacity and activity which is interpreted by the West as a threat which needs to be addressed. This study aims to present how Sweden has changed its view regarding Russia with time and also to explain why this change has occurred. Although Russia may be constituting a larger threat now than ever since the end of the Cold War, this study uses indicia argumentation a long with theories such as framing, Mearsheimer’s theories about lying in international politics and prospect theory to argue that Sweden is implementing a media strategy in order to prepare themselves for an unpredictable future, where threats are exaggerated in order to gain advocacy for one’s policies. By comparing and analyzing material collected from the years 2005-2015, I will conclude that this change is clearly visible over the years with, for instance, increased reporting in the media regarding military activity close to Swedish borders and changed frame in the declarations of foreign policy. Russia may constitute a threat, but the Swedish state is also using this insecurity to change the domestic opinion for its policies.}},
  author       = {{Fjellander, Staffan}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Russian aggression or Swedish media strategy?}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}