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

Abstract

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. Mediatization of Foreign Policy Decision-Making -- The Scope Conditions of Mediatized Foreign Policy -- Design and Methodological Concerns -- Mediatization in the United Nations General Assembly -- Political Logic at Play in Côte d'Ivoire -- Mixed Logics at Play in Libya -- Conclusion: Toward a Theory on the Variation of Mediatization of Foreign Policy.