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Despite the United States being the only country in the world that places its former and incoming leader on a stage for millions to see, with the "Peaceful Transition of Power" being the very symbol of American democracy watched around the world, the events on January 6th, 2021, show how such performances of democratic culture are not permanent fixtures. Indeed, whereas US and foreign audiences have become accustomed to watching anti-government protests in illiberal states or underdeveloped democracies, the scenes of thousands of protestors storming the US Capitol has opened the United States itself for critique from the very nations it has admonished in the past. Thus, although the protest paradigm has become the dominant framework for understanding mediated portrayals of anti-government protests, this study argues it provides only partial insight into the January 6th insurrection, eschewing the larger strategic dimensions of non-democratic countries' media coverage of the event. Rather than focusing on how media framed the event, this study examined 525 news articles from 26 Chinese, Russian, Iranian, and Saudi media outlets' reporting on the event from January 5th to January 19th through the lens of strategic media narratives. Results show that while elements of the protest paradigm are present in all four countries' reporting—providing clear condemnation of the event and its participants, with blame placed on President Trump for instigating the attack—two additional overarching plotlines emerge: one shifting the scene away from President Trump to America's broader polarized politics and failed governance and a second concluding the end of US exceptionalism and characterizations of US hypocrisy. Taken together, these two overarching narratives highlight the significance of storytelling as a potent form of geopolitical contestation in today's global media environment.

For most of the past two decades, the United States pursued a policy leveraging its traditional NATO partners to secure Afghanistan's future against the Taliban with little lasting success. However, in a dramatic reversal of U.S. policy in July 2018, President Trump ordered the start of direct talks between the United States and Taliban with the goal of internationalizing Afghan security. We argue that this move in 2018 by the United States can be understood as an attempt toward forming a transnational community around Afghan security by allowing non-allied nations greater voice and agency in Afghanistan's political future. However, current theories of transnational public sphere are unable to account for such processes. Thus, the primary aim of this study is development of a theory of transnational foreign policy sphere formation. Drawing upon Wessler et al.'s (2008) four-step process of transnational public sphere development, we conceptualize this process as one of strategic narrative (dis)alignment across and within foreign nations' media reporting on a common issue of concern. We then use media narratives reporting on Afghanistan's political future as an empirical case study to demonstrate our theory, by examining over 2000 news articles from 17 different Chinese, Russian, U.S., and Afghani media outlets from February 2017 to January 2020. Theoretically, our study advances research into the transnational public sphere by examining their (dis)formation over time as well as the limits and opportunities of transnational public sphere emergence outside of European contexts and on foreign policy issues among publics with very different sociopolitical interests and cultures.

While research has demonstrated the effectiveness of deliberative practices applied to mini-publics, the extent to which these smaller, specialized communities of deliberation can be scaled-up or reflect national level practices of governance is in doubt. This gap in research is critical in today's age with the rise of global authoritarian politics coming at the hand of populist national parties. In this essay, we call on deliberative democracy scholars to examine the larger societal forces inhibiting deliberative practices by focusing on the changes in society which lead to the adoption and success of authoritarian policies and messaging strategies globally. In doing so, we take a macro view to explain how and why authoritarian practices are spreading transnationally by first, briefly explaining the differences between authoritarian and deliberative practices before developing a model of authoritarian communication technique based on Ellul's (1973) work on propaganda. We then apply this model to three case studies showing the modern evolution and spread of authoritarianism from nations such as China and Russia and the subsequent adoption of these techniques within the US. Finally, we suggest interventions designed to stem the tide of global authoritarianism.

While research has demonstrated the effectiveness of deliberative practices applied to mini-publics, the extent to which these smaller, specialized communities of deliberation can be scaled-up or reflect national level practices of governance is in doubt. This gap in research is critical in today's age with the rise of global authoritarian politics coming at the hand of populist national parties. In this essay, we call on deliberative democracy scholars to examine the larger societal forces inhibiting deliberative practices by focusing on the changes in society which lead to the adoption and success of authoritarian policies and messaging strategies globally. In doing so, we take a macro view to explain how and why authoritarian practices are spreading transnationally by first, briefly explaining the differences between authoritarian and deliberative practices before developing a model of authoritarian communication technique based on Ellul's (1973) work on propaganda. We then apply this model to three case studies showing the modern evolution and spread of authoritarianism from nations such as China and Russia and the subsequent adoption of these techniques within the US. Finally, we suggest interventions designed to stem the tide of global authoritarianism.

Strategic narratives of the 2016 US presidential election : contestations of US, Chinese, Arab, and Russian soft power constructions / Robert S. Hinck, Skye C. Cooley, Randolph Kluver -- Research design : measuring narratives within local media ecologies / Robert S. Hinck, Skye C. Cooley, Randolph Kluver -- Illegitimacy of US democracy and declining US influence : juxtaposing Chinese success among US failures within Chinese media coverage of the US election / Robert S. Hinck, Skye C. Cooley, Randolph Kluver -- Arab views of the US election : culturally-positive and politically-negative depictions of US democracy / Natalie Khazaal and Robert S. Hinck -- The crumbling facade of US democracy : Russian resurgence amidst US moral decay within Russian media coverage of the US election / Robert S. Hinck, Skye C. Cooley, Randolph Kluver -- Compelling narratives and the implications on US soft power and the global order : comparative analysis of Chinese, Arab, and Russian narratives of the US election / Robert S. Hinck, Skye C. Cooley, Randolph Kluver.

AbstractThis study conceptualizes the mediated discussions of migration in Central America as narratives, arguing for the need to examine the broader contours of policy‐related migration reporting across time. Using machine learning and text mining analyses, combined with qualitative narrative analysis, the study examines 53,441 news articles from 17 US, Mexican and Northern Triangle media outlets from 1999 to 2019, tracing and critiquing the shifts in coverage. Findings suggest that all three media systems generally align in their depiction of the scene, key agents and acts regarding migration; however, US narratives increasingly diverge from Northern Triangle and Mexican narratives regarding the purpose and instruments by which migration occurs, with US value claims narrowing over time emphasizing border security. This narrative trajectory within US media ignores migrants' determination and underlining rationales for migration, pushing them to take increasingly dangerous means to migrate to the USA and exacerbating the situation for all parties.

With today's social and geopolitical order in significant flux this project offers vital insight into the future global order by comparatively charting national media perceptions regarding the future of global competition, through the lens of Ontological Security (OS). The authors employ a mixed-method approach to analyze 620 news articles from 47 Russian, Chinese, Venezuelan, and Iranian news sources over a five-year period (2014-2019), quantitatively comparing the drivers of their visions while providing in-depth qualitative case studies for each nation. Not only do these narratives reveal how these four nations understand the current global order, but also point to their (in)flexibility and agentic capacity for reflection in adapting, even shaping the future order, and their identity-roles within it, around an economic and diplomatic battleground. The authors argue these narratives create trajectories with inertial effects grounded in their OS needs, providing enduring insights into their behavior and interests moving into the future. The Future of Global Coopetition will help readers understand how influential nations typical aligned in opposition to the US, envision the drivers of global competition and the make-up of the future international system. Those engaged in the study of media, global politics, international relations, and communication will find this book to be a critical source.