Abstract

A tour of the theoretical development and the main research lines of international communication is presented. To do this, the appearance of communication in the configuration of power in four aspects (hard, soft, sharp and strategic narrative) is analyzed. The critical perspective and the Anglo-Saxon mastery on the subject are examined, with evidence from France, Germany, or Latin America. Five axes of future research are anticipated, such as the strengthening of the theoretical and methodological bases with interdisciplinary methods; the nature and characteristics of the international journalists (correspondents versus false news); the management of populist communication in the face of a political globalization with leaders that hinder the conventional journalistic ethos; the analysis of the structures; and global information systems in a multipolar scenario and less “CNN effect” than expected, and the constant innovation dynamics of propaganda.

Abstract

A tour of the theoretical development and the main research lines of international communication is presented. To do this, the appearance of communication in the configuration of power in four aspects (hard, soft, sharp and strategic narrative) is analyzed. The critical perspective and the Anglo-Saxon mastery on the subject are examined, with evidence from France, Germany, or Latin America. Five axes of future research are anticipated, such as the strengthening of the theoretical and methodological bases with interdisciplinary methods; the nature and characteristics of the international journalists (correspondents versus false news); the management of populist communication in the face of a political globalization with leaders that hinder the conventional journalistic ethos; the analysis of the structures; and global information systems in a multipolar scenario and less “CNN effect” than expected, and the constant innovation dynamics of propaganda.