Diplomatic Stratcom:How diplomats support and bridge behavioral and constitutive aims in the EU’s Russia policy

Diplomater står i dag over for et udfordrende paradoks i deres kommunikation. På den ene side skal de kommunikere klart i offentligheden med det formål at skabe attraktive og troværdige identiteter på vegne af de stater og organisationer, de repræsenterer. På den anden side benytter diplomater sig ofte af kommunikativ flertydighed som led i at løse internationale konflikter og bibeholde politisk manøvrefrihed.Denne afhandling konceptualiserer diplomatisk strategisk kommunikation – eller diplomatisk stratcom – med det formål at undersøge, hvordan diplomater balancerer det iboende dilemma, der opstår i krydsfeltet mellem kommunikativ klarhed og flertydighed. Den eksisterende litteratur på området favoriserer generelt den eksterne del af diplomaters strategiske kommunikation, som er rettet mod forskellige officielle eller offentlige målgrupper. For omvendt at kunne undersøge, hvordan kommunikation medvirker til at skabe helt grundlæggende strategiske udfordringer i diplomatiske organisationer, skifter jeg i denne afhandling fokusset mod de interne dynamikker i diplomatisk stratcom. Fra det perspektiv studerer jeg, hvordan diplomater håndterer – og forstærker – interne dilemmaer i deres arbejde. Ved at definere diplomatisk stratcom som narrative praksisser, bygger jeg videre på eksisterende viden om betydningen af strategiske narrativer i internationale relationer. Jeg bidrager til eksisterende litteratur ved både at studere, hvordan diplomater konstruerer sammenhængende narrativer, men også hvordan de ’jonglerer’ mellem forskellige narrativer samtidigt.Gennem mit casestudie af EU’s Ruslandspolitik, analyserer jeg, hvordan diplomater, der arbejdede med Rusland i perioden 2014-2018, brugte diplomatisk stratcom til at balancere mellem de modstridende målsætninger om kommunikativt at styrke EU som en aktør, der kan stå fast mod Rusland – og samtidig bibeholde en høj grad af diplomatisk fleksibilitet til at arbejde sammen med Rusland. Baseret på empirisk data fra 47 interviews med diplomater fra EU og medlemslandene, og i tæt dialog med eksisterende kommunikations- og diplomatilitteratur, konceptualiserer jeg i denne afhandling tre forskellige former for diplomatisk stratcom: Konstituerende stratcom, handlingsfremmende stratcom, og brobyggende stratcom. Mens førstnævnte har til formål at styrke EU som en aktør, så støtter den midterste målsætningen om diplomatisk fleksibilitet. I min analyse viser jeg, hvordan konstituerende stratcom spiller en afgørende rolle for diplomaternes mulighed for at fastholde det interne sammenhold omkring en afstraffende sanktionspolitik mod Rusland. Omvendt er deres handlingsfremmende stratcom vigtig for at skabe legitime muligheder for at samarbejde med russiske partnere under den nuværende diplomatiske krise efter Ruslands annektering af Krim. Mens disse stratcom-processer derfor hver for sig er strategiske, så viser min analyse, at deres sameksistens skaber udfordringer for EU’s Ruslandspolitik. Teoretisk udvikler jeg konceptet om forbindende stratcom for at beskrive den måde, hvorpå diplomater kan bygge bro over de interne strategiske modsætninger. Gennem mit studie identificerer jeg dog, hvordan diplomaternes udbredte krisenarrativer, kombineret med en meget svag strategisk retning i det diplomatiske arbejde, svækker deres muligheder for at skabe forbindende stratcom. Konsekvenser heraf er, at EU’s Ruslandspolitik i høj grad præges af de strategiske modsætninger mellem de konstituerende og de handlingsfremmede kommunikationsprocesser.Gennem mit studie identificerer jeg en række narrative praksisser, som diplomaterne udøver gennem stratcom. Jeg viser også, hvordan diplomaternes fortællinger om deres arbejde i forholdet til Rusland foregår på et narrativt makro-, meso-, og mikroniveau. På makroniveauet konstruerer diplomaterne de kollektive aktører, der interagerer på den internationale arena. På mesoniveauet legitimerer deres egen diplomatiske praksisser. På mikroniveauet prøver de at skabe mening i forhold til den diplomatisk kontekst, de er udstationeret i. På den måde hjælper afhandlingens resultater os med bedre at forstå den udbredte grad af narrativ ’polyfoni’, som diplomater håndterer gennem deres arbejde.Ved at konceptualisere diplomatisk stratcom som narrative praksisser, der understøtter eller bygger bro mellem konstituterende og handlingsfremmende målsætninger, udvikler jeg en måde at studere de strategiske dilemmaer, som er iboende i komplekse diplomatiske organisationer. Derfor argumenterer jeg for, at afhandlingens teoretiske ramme især er brugbar til at studere de narrative kampe og strategiske udfordringer, som former de underlæggende betingelser for diplomatisk arbejde i dag. Det er derfor mit håb, at denne afhandling kan bidrage konstruktivt til fremtidige studier af den stigende kompleksitet, som diplomater i dag står over for; markante ændringer i de globale allianceforhold, en digital medierevolution, som i stigende grad påvirker diplomaters arbejde, samt et øget behov for at diplomater både kan håndtere ’offentlighedsdiplomatiet’ samt de mere traditionelle forhandlinger bag lukkede døre.Today, diplomats face a challenging paradox in their communication. On the one hand, they are increasingly expected to communicate clearly to construct attractive and reliable identities for the states and organizations they represent in the eyes of public domestic and international audiences. On the other hand, diplomats traditionally favor communicative ambiguity as a method to alleviate international conflicts and retain political room for maneuver to pursue different political interests.This dissertation conceptualizes diplomatic stratcom as a way to understand how diplomats balance this dilemma between communicative clarity and ambiguity in their work. While existing literature primarily focuses on diplomats’ strategic communication externally – how diplomats communicate with official or public target groups – this dissertation shifts attention internally. Specifically, it analyzes how diplomats use diplomatic stratcom to address fundamental strategic challenges within diplomatic organizations. By conceptualizing diplomatic stratcom as a set of narrative practices, I complement the predominant attention to how diplomats craft compelling strategic narratives with a view on how diplomats ‘juggle’ between multiple coexisting narratives.Using the case study of diplomatic stratcom in the EU’s Russia policy, I analyze how diplomats working with Russia between 2014 and 2018 balanced the aims of EU actor constitution with diplomatic flexibility. Based on empirical data from 47 interviews with EU and member state diplomats, as well as close dialogue with existing theoretical concepts of strategy, narratives, and diplomatic practices, I propose a conceptualization of three different forms of diplomatic stratcom: constitutive stratcom, behavioral stratcom, and bridging stratcom. Diplomats’ constitutive stratcom supports the underlying aim of EU actor constitution while behavioral stratcom supports the aim of diplomatic flexibility. While the former played a fundamental role in EU and member state diplomats’ ability to maintain internal unity around a more ‘hardliner’ sanctions policy against Russia, the latter was fundamental for maintaining diplomats’ ability to continue cooperating with Russian counterparts under the diplomatic crisis caused by the Ukraine Crisis. These coexisting processes of diplomatic stratcom are each strategic from within a constitutive and a behavioral logic, respectively, but my analysis shows that their coexistence produces fundamental contradictions for the EU’s Russia policy. Theoretically, I propose the concept of bridging stratcom to describe the way diplomats can bridge the internal contradictions between the sometimes divergent strategic aims of constitutive and behavioral stratcom. In my case study, however, I identified how diplomats’ commonly used crisis narration, and their perception of ‘muddling through’ while doing diplomacy in Russia, hindered their ability to engage in more inclusive forms of bridging stratcom that could close the strategic gap presently inherent to the EU’s Russia policy.This case study reveals a range of narrative practices that diplomats engage as they perform diplomatic stratcom. It further identifies three narrative levels that diplomats co-construct when they narrate collective actors into being on the international arena, legitimize their own diplomatic practices, and make sense of the diplomatic context in which they operate. In this way, the dissertation’s findings help us to better understand the wide extent of narrative polyphony that diplomats deal with in their work.By conceptualizing diplomatic stratcom as narrative practices that support or bridge constitutive and behavioral aims, I propose a way to study the strategic dilemmas inherent to complex diplomatic organizations. I develop a theoretical framework that is broadly useful for studying the narrative clashes and strategic challenges that shape the underlying conditions of diplomatic work today. As a result, this dissertation is well-positioned to contribute constructively to future studies of the increasingly complex world of global diplomacy, characterized by fundamental changes in the international system, a digital media revolution – which is only just starting to get its grip on diplomatic practice – and the challenging mandate for diplomats to simultaneously engage in both public affairs and closed-door negotiations

Parallel molecular routes to cold adaptation in eight genera of New Zealand stick insects.

The acquisition of physiological strategies to tolerate novel thermal conditions allows organisms to exploit new environments. As a result, thermal tolerance is a key determinant of the global distribution of biodiversity, yet the constraints on its evolution are not well understood. Here we investigate parallel evolution of cold tolerance in New Zealand stick insects, an endemic radiation containing three montane-occurring species. Using a phylogeny constructed from 274 orthologous genes, we show that stick insects have independently colonized montane environments at least twice. We compare supercooling point and survival of internal ice formation among ten species from eight genera, and identify both freeze tolerance and freeze avoidance in separate montane lineages. Freeze tolerance is also verified in both lowland and montane populations of a single, geographically widespread, species. Transcriptome sequencing following cold shock identifies a set of structural cuticular genes that are both differentially regulated and under positive sequence selection in each species. However, while cuticular proteins in general are associated with cold shock across the phylogeny, the specific genes at play differ among species. Thus, while processes related to cuticular structure are consistently associated with adaptation for cold, this may not be the consequence of shared ancestral genetic constraints

Guía para prevenir y atender la violencia sexual

Brinda orientaciones a directivos y docentes con respecto a la prevención y atención oportuna de casos de violencia sexual identificados en las instituciones educativas. En este sentido, da orientaciones con el fin de prevenir, identificar, denunciar y atender el abuso sexual, en el marco de la normatividad vigente

Guía para prevenir y atender la violencia sexual

Brinda orientaciones a directivos y docentes con respecto a la prevención y atención oportuna de casos de violencia sexual identificados en las instituciones educativas. En este sentido, da orientaciones con el fin de prevenir, identificar, denunciar y atender el abuso sexual, en el marco de la normatividad vigente

Conference report: The second bacterial genome sequencing Pan-European network conference

Funding: We thank the University of Zurich and the Swedish “Nyckelfonden” - Örebro University hospital research Foundation, Akershus University Hospital, Genomic Medicine Sweden, and the Norwegian Surveillance Programme for Antimicrobial Resistance (NORM) for financial support of the conference. The UK Embassy in Switzerland provided a grant to invite two speakers.Peer reviewe