Dr Joanna Szostek was invited to address participants of the 2016 Milton A. Wolf Media and Diplomacy Seminar in Vienna, Austria this week. This year the seminar provided a platform to discuss the multiple anxieties which came to the fore in international relations following the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels. As a participant in the first panel on ‘Narratives of Global Conflict and Negotiation Post Paris’, Dr Szostek unpacked the abrasive narrative projected by Russia in response to Islamist terrorism in Europe. Countering claims that Russia’s ‘propagandistic’ communication efforts are designed only to mislead and confuse, Dr Szostek argued that Russia’s narrative reflects its leaders’ genuine long-term objectives, including their strong desire for acceptance by other European powers.

Thanks as ever to Monroe Price, Amelia Arsenault and all those who make the Milton A. Wolf Seminar possible.