Carola Richter - Böcker

This book offers a timely exploration of how authoritarian states communicate with foreign publics, blending strategies of attraction, persuasion, manipulation, and control. As authoritarian regimes grow more sophisticated in projecting influence beyond their borders, this publication investigates the tools they employ from soft power initiatives in culture, sports, and academia to sharp power tactics of disinformation and censorship. Through a comparative lens, authors uncover the nuances of these regimes' practices, challenging assumptions about where public diplomacy ends and propaganda begins. By examining cases including China, Cuba, Egypt, Morocco, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Venezuela, this book sheds light on the transnational implications of authoritarian public diplomacy in an era of shifting global power dynamics. An essential reading for scholars of international relations, political communication, and public diplomacy, this publication offers fresh insights into the evolving struggle for influence on the world stage.

In times of increasing mediatization and digitalization media play an important role in political and societal transformation processes. They inquire into the ways processes of networking and mobilization evolve in the context of restricted media systems and state-dominated public spheres.

Restrictions on academic freedom, persecution and armed conflict have forced many scholars into exile. So far, the professional trajectories of these scholars and their contributions to knowledge exchange have not been studied comprehensively. The contributors to this volume address the situations and networks of scholars in exile, the challenges they face in their host countries and the opportunities they use. These issues are highly relevant to discussions about the moral economies of higher education institutions and support programs. Although the contributions largely focus on Germany as a host country, they also offer telling examples of forced mobility in the Global South, including both contemporary and historical perspectives.

This volume proposes a “deep internationalization” of media and communication studies by offering insights and guidance on how to integrate a cosmopolitan perspective in a variety of subfields of this discipline. Building on debates on de-Westernization and cosmopolitanism, the contributors advocate for the inclusion of both global and local perspectives and context-led approaches. They argue that acknowledging and incorporating epistemologies, topics, and methodologies from diverse regions, contexts, and backgrounds will enhance the comprehensiveness and relevance of their discipline and foster a more inclusive and meaningful understanding in communication studies.