Fra målløst prat til strategisk kommunikasjon? Utviklingen av Natos strategiske kommunikasjonskonsept og Norges evne til å ta del i konseptet

Abstract

This paper was written in the period between December 2010 and June 2011 as a Masters thesis for the Norwegian Armed Forces’ Master of military studies programme. The paper aims at exploring Nato’s concept of Strategic Communication, its background and how Nato aims to put the theory of strategic communication into practice in its operations. Norway’s ability to take part in Nato’s strategic communications is also assessed. The research question of the thesis is: What is the background and contents of Nato’s concept of Strategic Communication, how is it put into practice and to what extent does Norway have the ability to actively take part in and support Nato’s strategic communication efforts. The thesis is roughly separated into two parts. The first part, chapters two to five, use qualitative methodology to examine relevant documentation to answer the first part of the research question. The second part of the thesis examines to which extent Norway has the ability and will to take part in and support Nato’s strategic communication efforts. This portion primarily uses semi-structured interviews with key players in the Norwegian armed forces and to shed light on the second half of the research question. The thesis finds that Nato’s concept of strategic communication has been fuelled by needs identified in the alliance’s operations since the change of the millennium. The concept is still under development, and in the process of being implemented. This process is likely to take several years as the successful implementation of strategic communications in the alliance also requires an implementation of the concept in Nato’s 28 member countries