Abstract Intelligence agencies operate in complex international relations alongside official foreign policy, yet the interactions between these concealed and official layers remain underexplored in Foreign Policy Analysis. This article addresses this gap by theorizing intelligence agencies’ international relations as distinct yet embedded processes within foreign policy. It proposes a comparative framework to explain how and to what extent these relations are integrated into foreign-policy processes, what interaction effects they generate over time, and what roles they assume. Applied to Austrian–Israeli relations in the 1970s, the analysis demonstrates how both states used intelligence agencies’ relations as secret crisis management channels, yet under different patterns of political and organizational integration and foreign-policy rationales: Austria outsourced politically costly engagement to an insulated security apparatus, while Israel relied on closely integrated intelligence agencies to bypass diplomatic constraints and secure strategic objectives.
Abstract From a democratic perspective, the size and composition of national delegations to multilateral negotiations should reflect the salience of the issues being addressed within the domestic agenda. This study examines whether variations in issue salience are reflected in participation patterns across negotiation arenas, using Brazil—a key actor in climate, biodiversity, and forest governance—as a case study. Employing a mixed-methods design, we combine Google Trends data (2004–2024), official records on delegation size and composition, and expert interviews. Findings show that Brazil consistently sends large and diverse delegations, including high-level political actors, to UNFCCC COPs despite relatively low issue salience over time. In contrast, forest and biodiversity negotiations attract smaller, more bureaucratically oriented delegations, although these issues remain consistently salient. These results suggest that issue salience alone does not determine participation patterns; rather, participation is mediated by the institutional characteristics and visibility of specific governance arenas.
Narratives organize how foreign policy becomes intelligible and actionable by defining events, assigning responsibility, and justifying particular courses of action. This article advances the narrative turn by extending it to the visual domain of political storytelling. Despite the ubiquity of images in diplomacy, Foreign Policy Analysis lacks a systematic way to examine how visuals contribute to the narratives through which foreign policy is performed. To address this gap, the article proposes a framework for visual narrative analysis. Integrating narrative theory with visual analysis, the framework shows how recurring visual elements articulate storylines. An analysis of the European Union's social media on the war in Ukraine demonstrates how visual choices construct the EU's role as a moral and political actor navigating tensions between diplomacy, solidarity, and security. The article illustrates how Visual Narrative Analysis reveals the ways in which visual representations reinforce, nuance, or unsettle the narrative frameworks underpinning EU foreign policy. Las narrativas organizan c & oacute;mo se vuelve inteligible y operativa la pol & iacute;tica exterior dado que definen eventos, asignan responsabilidades y justifican medidas de acci & oacute;n espec & iacute;ficas. Este art & iacute;culo ampl & iacute;a el conocimiento con respecto al giro narrativo y lo extiende al dominio visual de la narraci & oacute;n pol & iacute;tica. A pesar de la ubicuidad de las im & aacute;genes en el campo de la diplomacia, el an & aacute;lisis en materia de pol & iacute;tica exterior carece de un modo sistem & aacute;tico de examinar c & oacute;mo los elementos visuales contribuyen a las narrativas a trav & eacute;s de las cuales se lleva a cabo la pol & iacute;tica exterior. Con el fin de abordar esta brecha, este art & iacute;culo propone un marco para el an & aacute;lisis de la narrativa visual. El marco integra la teor & iacute;a narrativa con el an & aacute;lisis visual y demuestra c & oacute;mo los elementos visuales recurrentes articulan las tramas. Llevamos a cabo un an & aacute;lisis de las redes sociales de la Uni & oacute;n Europea en lo relativo a la guerra en Ucrania que demuestra c & oacute;mo las elecciones a nivel visual construyen el papel de la UE como un actor moral y pol & iacute;tico que deambula entre las tensiones de la diplomacia, la solidaridad y la seguridad. El art & iacute;culo ilustra c & oacute;mo el an & aacute;lisis narrativo visual revela las formas mediante las cuales las representaciones visuales refuerzan, matizan o desestabilizan los marcos narrativos que sustentan la pol & iacute;tica exterior de la UE. Les r & eacute;cits organisent la fa & ccedil;on dont on rend la politique & eacute;trang & egrave;re compr & eacute;hensible et exploitable en d & eacute;finissant des & eacute;v & eacute;nements, attribuant la responsabilit & eacute; et justifiant des chemins sp & eacute;cifiques. Cet article fait progresser le tournant narratif en le prolongeant jusqu'au domaine visuel de la narration politique. Malgr & eacute; l'omnipr & eacute;sence des images en diplomatie, l'analyse de politique & eacute;trang & egrave;re ne poss & egrave;de pas de moyen syst & eacute;matique d'examiner la contribution des visuels aux r & eacute;cits d'actualisation de la politique & eacute;trang & egrave;re. Pour traiter cette lacune, l'article propose un cadre d'analyse narrative visuelle (ANV). Int & eacute;grant la th & eacute;orie narrative & agrave; l'analyse visuelle, le cadre montre que des & eacute;l & eacute;ments visuels r & eacute;currents articulent des intrigues. Une analyse des r & eacute;seaux sociaux de l'Union europ & eacute;enne s'agissant de la guerre en Ukraine d & eacute;montre comment les choix visuels construisent le r & ocirc;le de l'UE en tant qu'acteur moral et politique g & eacute;rant les tensions entre diplomatie, solidarit & eacute; et s & eacute;curit & eacute;. L'article montre que l'ANV r & eacute;v & egrave;le comment les repr & eacute;sentations visuelles renforcent, nuancent ou perturbent les cadres narratifs qui sous-tendent la politique & eacute;trang & egrave;re de l'UE.
The emergence of the concept of "resilience" in national security discourse has been explained as an expedient response to non-traditional security threats, including climate change, pandemics, terrorism, and cyber security, or as an extension of neoliberal techniques of security governance. While there is some evidence to support these accounts, by conducting a discourse analysis of US National Security Strategies released between 2002 and 2022, this article proposes a third, novel explanation for the resilience turn in US national security discourse. This is that due to its conceptual ambiguity, resilience discourse also functions to reconcile diverse political perspectives, thereby helping achieve a high degree of policy consensus. Resilience does this by speaking simultaneously to hegemonic American values, including liberty, freedom, self-reliance, and American Exceptionalism, both sides of the idealism-realism divide, and the respective Hamiltonian, Wilsonian, Jeffersonian, and Jacksonian foreign policy traditions that set the parameters of US foreign policy debates. La aparici & oacute;n del concepto de & laquo;resiliencia & raquo; en el discurso de seguridad nacional ha sido explicado como una respuesta pr & aacute;ctica a amenazas de seguridad no tradicionales, que incluyen el cambio clim & aacute;tico, pandemias, terrorismo y seguridad cibern & eacute;tica, o como una extensi & oacute;n de las t & eacute;cnicas neoliberales en materia de gobernanza de la seguridad. Aunque existen ciertas evidencias que respaldan estos relatos, este art & iacute;culo, dado que realiza un an & aacute;lisis del discurso de las seis estrategias de seguridad nacional de EE. UU. publicadas entre 2002 y 2022, propone una tercera explicaci & oacute;n novedosa para este giro hacia la resiliencia en el discurso en materia de seguridad nacional de EE. UU. Esto se debe a que, debido a su ambig & uuml;edad conceptual, el discurso sobre la resiliencia tambi & eacute;n funciona en los debates en materia de seguridad nacional de EE. UU. para conciliar diversas perspectivas pol & iacute;ticas, ayudando, de esta forma, a alcanzar un alto grado de consenso en las pol & iacute;ticas. La resiliencia consigue esto porque dialoga simult & aacute;neamente con los valores hegem & oacute;nicos estadounidenses, como la libertad, la autonom & iacute;a, la autosuficiencia y el excepcionalismo americano, pero tambi & eacute;n a ambos lados de la divisi & oacute;n entre idealismo y realismo, y a las respectivas tradiciones de pol & iacute;tica exterior hamiltoniana, wilsoniana, jeffersoniana y jacksoniana que establecen los par & aacute;metros de los debates de la pol & iacute;tica exterior de Estados Unidos. L'& eacute;mergence du concept de & laquo; r & eacute;silience & raquo; dans le discours sur la s & eacute;curit & eacute; nationale a & eacute;t & eacute; expliqu & eacute;e comme une r & eacute;ponse opportuniste aux menaces non traditionnelles pour la s & eacute;curit & eacute; (changement climatique, pand & eacute;mies, terrorisme et cybers & eacute;curit & eacute;), ou comme une extension des techniques n & eacute;olib & eacute;rales de gouvernance de la s & eacute;curit & eacute;. Bien que certains & eacute;l & eacute;ments viennent & eacute;tayer ces interpr & eacute;tations, cet article propose, & agrave; travers une analyse du discours des six strat & eacute;gies de s & eacute;curit & eacute; nationale am & eacute;ricaines publi & eacute;es entre 2002 et 2022, une troisi & egrave;me explication novatrice du tournant vers la r & eacute;silience dans le discours am & eacute;ricain sur la s & eacute;curit & eacute; nationale. En effet, en raison de son ambigu & iuml;t & eacute; conceptuelle, le discours sur la r & eacute;silience sert & eacute;galement, dans les d & eacute;bats am & eacute;ricains sur la s & eacute;curit & eacute; nationale, & agrave; concilier des perspectives politiques diverses; il contribue & agrave; atteindre un haut degr & eacute; de consensus politique. Le concept de r & eacute;silience y parvient en s'adressant simultan & eacute;ment aux valeurs h & eacute;g & eacute;moniques am & eacute;ricaines (telles que la libert & eacute;, l'autonomie et l'exceptionnalisme am & eacute;ricain), aux deux camps du clivage entre id & eacute;alisme et r & eacute;alisme, ainsi qu'aux traditions respectives de politique & eacute;trang & egrave;re hamiltonienne, wilsonienne, jeffersonienne et jacksonienne qui d & eacute;finissent les param & egrave;tres des d & eacute;bats sur la politique & eacute;trang & egrave;re am & eacute;ricaine.
Government-funded overseas scholarship programmes have most commonly been analysed through the lens of soft power. Recent research has emphasised that the relationship between educational exchange and political influence is contingent, uneven, and often disrupted by unintended consequences. Why do governments continue to use scholarships? This article presents an alternative framework, conceptualised as multidimensional foreign policy logic, to examine how states design and justify scholarship programmes. Drawing on foundational insights from Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) literature, this framework conceptualises scholarships as policy instruments through which governments connect strategic objectives to programme design and legitimating narratives. Empirically, the paper employs a comparative historical case study design, and examines Australia and China as most different cases. The findings demonstrate that in both cases scholarships have functioned as adaptable tools of statecraft rather than merely cultural initiatives: that is, they persist because they can be redesigned to coordinate multiple foreign policy objectives. Los programas de becas en el extranjero financiados por el Gobierno han sido tradicionalmente analizados a trav & eacute;s de la lente del poder blando. Existen investigaciones recientes que han enfatizado que la relaci & oacute;n entre el intercambio educativo y la influencia pol & iacute;tica es contingente, desigual y, a menudo, se ve alterada por consecuencias no deseadas. & iquest;Por qu & eacute; siguen los Gobiernos usando becas? Este art & iacute;culo presenta un marco alternativo, conceptualizado como una l & oacute;gica de pol & iacute;tica exterior multidimensional, que nos permite analizar c & oacute;mo los Estados dise & ntilde;an y justifican los programas de becas. Este marco se basa en conocimientos fundamentales obtenidos de la literatura referente al An & aacute;lisis de Pol & iacute;tica Exterior (FPA, por sus siglas en ingl & eacute;s), y conceptualiza las becas como instrumentos de pol & iacute;tica mediante los cuales los Gobiernos conectan los objetivos estrat & eacute;gicos con el dise & ntilde;o de programas y las narrativas legitimadoras. Emp & iacute;ricamente, el art & iacute;culo emplea un dise & ntilde;o de estudio de caso hist & oacute;rico comparativo y analiza los casos de Australia y China por ser los m & aacute;s diferentes. Nuestras conclusiones demuestran que, en ambos casos, las becas han funcionado como herramientas adaptables de la pol & iacute;tica estatal m & aacute;s que como iniciativas meramente culturales, es decir, persisten porque pueden ser redise & ntilde;adas con el fin de coordinar m & uacute;ltiples objetivos en materia de pol & iacute;tica exterior. Les programmes de bourses d'& eacute;tudes & agrave; l'& eacute;tranger financ & eacute;s par les gouvernements ont le plus souvent & eacute;t & eacute; analys & eacute;s sous l'angle du soft power. Des recherches r & eacute;centes ont soulign & eacute; que la relation entre les & eacute;changes & eacute;ducatifs et l'influence politique est contingente, in & eacute;gale et souvent perturb & eacute;e par des cons & eacute;quences impr & eacute;vues. Pourquoi les gouvernements continueront-ils & agrave; utiliser les bourses d'& eacute;tudes ? Cet article pr & eacute;sente un cadre alternatif, conceptualis & eacute; comme une logique de politique & eacute;trang & egrave;re multidimensionnelle, pour examiner comment les & Eacute;tats con & ccedil;oivent et justifient les programmes de bourses d'& eacute;tudes. S'appuyant sur les principes fondamentaux de la litt & eacute;rature en analyse de la politique & eacute;trang & egrave;re (FPA), ce cadre d & eacute;finit les bourses d'& eacute;tudes comme des instruments politiques par lesquels les gouvernements rattachent leurs objectifs strat & eacute;giques & agrave; la conception des programmes et aux discours de l & eacute;gitimation. Sur le plan empirique, l'article utilise une approche d'& eacute;tude de cas historique comparative et se penche sur les cas tr & egrave;s diff & eacute;rents de l'Australie et de la Chine. Les r & eacute;sultats montrent que, dans les deux cas, les bourses ont servi d'outils adaptables au service de la politique d'& Eacute;tat plut & ocirc;t que de simples initiatives culturelles : en d'autres termes, elles continuent d'exister parce qu'elles peuvent & ecirc;tre repens & eacute;es pour coordonner de multiples objectifs de politique & eacute;trang & egrave;re.
