This policy brief offers an emotionally based strategic communication (ESBC) framework to effectively inform and engage public opinion and strengthen support towards NATO in the Western Balkans, and more particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). It draws on the findings of two recent studies conducted by the Atlantic Initiative to examine which emotions are prevalent and relevant in informing and formulating effective NATO communication interventions in BiH. Though fear and hope are not newly associated with NATO, the presence of such feelings as “residues of experience” of past NATO interventions in the Western Balkans continues to affect Bosnian citizens’ perceptions, attitudes and belief formation towards NATO. While positive responses to NATO in BiH continue to be prominently associated with stability and democracy, a dangerous cocktail of pervasive Russian disinformation campaigns is fuelling a regional and local right-wing extremist milieu and amplifying anti-NATO sentiment in the region. Combined with a lack of media literacy, nationalist inflammatory political rhetoric, and the threat of a possible spillover of the Russia-Ukraine war,such activity is feeding a sense of fear, particularly among Bosnian women who associate NATO with instability and conflict. These responses are being used strategically by political elites and hostile actors to undermine BiH adhesion to NATO, and ultimately threaten peace and democracy. This policy brief will outline how EBSC can transform the current map of negative feelings towards NATO among Bosnian citizens into a more positive picture.
You can read the policy paper at this link.
