Strategic Narratives of the 2016 US Presidential Election: Contestations of US, Chinese, Arab, and Russian Soft Power Constructions

Chapter 1 lays out the book’s theoretical argument and its contribution to the emerging field of strategic narratives scholarship by conceptualizing strategic narratives as a means to exercise soft power through its focus on the role of regional media systems as the source of narrative constructions. This perspective builds upon the work of Miskimmon, O’Loughlin, and Roselle (2013, 2017) on strategic narratives, answering their call for analyzing “the role of media in contributing to the meaning of events” and how “events come to possess narrativity for audiences.” This chapter examines how narratives about US democracy, the legitimacy of democratic processes, and characterizations of candidates and their policies are received and reconceptualized within foreign media systems. Theoretically, the project sharpens the definition of strategic narrative, and deepens our understanding of how “events provide the raw material for global contestations of the global order.” Further, this chapter explores how global media outlets interpret the same raw material but establish differing narratives explaining geopolitical events.