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Narrating the New Rivalry: NATO's Strategic Narrative on China in a Shifting Global Order
Swedish Defence University.
2025 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

This thesis examines NATO’s strategic narrative on China using the theoretical framework developed by Miskimmon, O’Loughlin, and Roselle. Specifically, it seeks to analyse how NATO constructs and communicates its narrative, positioning China as a security challenge in the 21st century. To address this, the study employs an analytical framework grounded in Miskimmon et al.’s model, which identifies the core components of strategic narratives. This framework is applied to official NATO documents, focusing on four components and how these are portrayed in the texts: self, other actors, setting and conflict. The findings reveal that NATO frames China as a systemic challenge, highlighting concerns over its expanding military capabilities, growing economic influence, and use of coercive tactics. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates that NATO employs dichotomies to position itself as a defender of Western liberal ideals. By avoiding a direct portrayal of China as an adversary, NATO strategically minimises the risk of undermining the diplomatic ties that individual member states maintain with China. This nuanced approach underscores the complexity of NATO’s narrative construction and its effort to balance collective security interests with diplomatic considerations.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025. , p. 44
Keywords [en]
Strategic narrative, China, NATO, Narrative analysis, International relations
Keywords [sv]
Strategiska narrativ, Kina, Nato, Narrativ analys, Internationella relationer
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-13439OAI: oai:DiVA.org:fhs-13439DiVA, id: diva2:1931306
Subject / course
Political Science with a focus on Crisis Management and Security
Educational program
Swedish Defence University’s Bachelor Program
Uppsok
Social and Behavioural Science, Law
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2025-01-27 Created: 2025-01-26 Last updated: 2025-09-29Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • harvard-cite-them-right
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf