Logo: to the web site of the Swedish Defence University

Russia's geopolitical shift in its rapprochement with African countries, especially Mali, has raised uncertainty about the causes and concerns about the consequences for the international community. Through the methodology of framing analysis, this thesis aims to understand how Russia constructs and frames the use of political warfare in its foreign policy towards Mali, as well as the elaboration of its identity. The analysis has demonstrated that Russia defines its foreign policy by combining six dominant frames, which, when integrated with the role of language to evoke shared feelings and the practice of strategic framing, result in the framing of political warfare. Moreover, an overarching frame that contrasts Russia's identity with Western powers' has been identified. The findings contribute to understanding how the instruments of political warfare are made sense of and are communicated through foreign policy.

Keywords: Russia, Mali, foreign policy, political warfare, framing analysis, identity construction.