Publications

The UN as a competitive arena for linked ecologies: The case of UN peacekeeping

Russland som "assosiert NATO-medlem" og Norge

Contextualising Liberal Peacebuilding for Local Circumstances: UNMISS and Local Peacebuilding In South Sudan

Challenging Anthropology: Anthropological Reflections on the Ethnographic Turn in International Relations

Demokratiske ideer og udemokratisk praksis: Internasjonal støtte til det kirgisiske parlamentet

The EU foreign and security policy: High expectations, low capabilities?

EU og regional sikkerhet: Integrasjon, sikkerhet og assosierte ikke-medlemmer

Nation-building policies in Timor-Leste: Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation

The Risk Society at War. Terror, Technology and Strategy in the Twenty-First Century

Definitions of strategic political communication

Political communication comes in various forms. The first part of this paper presents some variants of political communication, and provides a set of definitions of such communication. A centre of gravity is along the borderline and overlap between rhetoric and propaganda. It is argued here that rhetoric unlike propaganda has a potential for deliberation. Propaganda is inherently hostile towards debate and discussion. This reluctance towards debate and discussion has at times been evident as regards the Bush administration’s war on terrorism. The second part of the article deals with propaganda from the Bush administration aimed at quelling debate. All the principals from the first George W. Bush administration (2001-2005) took part in this strategy. Most of the material presented here is explained in more detail in Anders G. Romarheim (2005). “Crossfire of Fear: Propaganda in the US War on Terrorism” Hovedoppgave i Statsvitenskap, ISV, UIO.