Do(n't) Shoot the Messenger: Psychological Responses to Kremlin Narratives in Nordic - Baltic Audiences
Do(n't) Shoot the Messenger: Psychological Responses to Kremlin Narratives in Nordic - Baltic Audiences

Author(s): Aiden Hoyle, Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, Bertjan Doosje, Charlotte Wagnsson
Contributor(s): Elina Lange-Ionatamishvili (Editor), Merle Anne Read (Editor)
Subject(s): Regional Geography, Security and defense, Politics and communication, Peace and Conflict Studies, Hybrid Warfare
Published by: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Keywords: Russia; Kremlin; politics; security; messages; Nordic-Baltic; region; psychology;
Summary/Abstract: This report is co-authored by Aiden Hoyle, Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, Charlotte Wagnsson, and Bertjan Doosje. The report is a product of the PhD research fellowship by Aiden Hoyle, who did part of his experimental research on emotional responses to Kremlin’s narratives at the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (COE) in Riga. Aiden Hoyle’s work made an important contribution to the Centre’s Nordic-Baltic project, which has been running since 2016. This ongoing effort monitors and analyses Russian and Chinese influence operations in the NordicBaltic region, which includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden. Since its inception, the project has published several reports mapping and comparing narratives hostile to national interest, regional cohesion, and the realisation of strategic interests within the European Union and NATO. Drawing on the expertise of subject matter experts representing the eight countries and research conducted by the COE, this project has significantly advanced the understanding of a common threat. But what about its impact? Aiden’s research offers a rigorous novel approach to understanding how hostile narratives affect audiences and suggests what nations can learn from these findings in terms of their own strategic communications. Implementation of this research would not have been possible without partnerships. We would like to thank the UiT The Arctic University of Norway, the Swedish Defence University, the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), and the Dutch Defence Academy for their cooperation.

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