Perhaps the most influential audience in modern geopolitics is not the one that sits in the parliament, presidential palace, or military headquarters. Perhaps it is just sitting on the couch, scrolling.

This was a ludicrous notion even a generation ago. Nations used to conduct diplomacy towards governments and military strategy towards armies. The citizenry was an afterthought in geopolitical competition. They were informed of, mobilised, and sometimes swayed, but they were never seen as the end goal. They are now.

Governments find themselves communicating with and over each other straight into their respective societies. They foster favourable influencers, construct digital environments, support international media outlets and vie for attention within online worlds where borders have become increasingly blurred.

Strategic communications is no longer a supplementary tool for statecraft but has become one of its main tools. This change is paradoxical in itself because never before have states had so many opportunities to address global audiences, while these audiences have never been so cynical about institutions trying to address them. Influence has never been so highly valued and so hard to obtain at the same time. This paradox defines modern geopolitics.

The key idea behind modern strategic communications seems to be quite straightforward: more visibility will lead to more influence. In other words, if the state becomes better at communicating its ideas and attracting bigger audiences, then it can shape people’s perception of it. Yet reality proved to be more difficult.

It can be clearly........

© The Express Tribune Blog