La strategia narrativa delle società nazionali

In the contemporary context, with the multicentric proliferation of powerful international actors, states have to manage the construction of their image, defining their role and aspirations. With the re-definition of the state centric politics, stories become relevant: communication is a form of power (Castells, 2009), and networked forms of communication are a way to conquer the transnational public spheres, built through networks of mutual affinity (Volkmer, 2014). Therefore, political actors must produce their own narratives. Through strategic narratives of foreign politics, states try to set up the ‘tales’ of international affairs and foreign strategies, to suggest a world vision, a causal interpretation, politically determining frames that affect transnational actors’ position in the international environment (Entman, 2004). We decided to investigate how that process is made through information diffusion on digital platforms: states can use digital media to show and actualize their own autobiographical aspirations, and to manage identity and reputation. In this work, it has been analyzed the content presented through Twitter posts by the Foreign Ministries accounts of four different States (USA; Israel; France; Sweden), for a period of three months (9/1/2015-11/30/2015); leading to the identification of different models and characteristic patterns of self-representation.