Kuvatutkimus ja kuvapolitiikka kansainvälisissä suhteissa

Voimapolitiikan muodonmuutoksesta julkisen diplomatian aikakaudella

Authors

• Alpo Rusi

Abstract

This article is actually comprised of two parts. In the first, a tradition of a psychological approach of the study of international relations is discussed. One way of looking at international politics is to focus attention on individuals, primarily decision-makers. Concepts such as ’Belief Systems’, ’Images’, ’Perceptions’ and ’Deceptions’ thus constitute the clues for a more theoretical framework of this approach. In the second part, the increasing influence of mass communications in international politics and in image making is dealt with. The physics of power is declining and the psychology of power, in consequence, is rising. Power politics is under a process of transformation. A small and neutral country, like Finland, is especially sensitive to image policy problems, because image policy is more crucial for a state whose international position is not a historically institutionalized part of the system. It is time to recognize more consciously the innately interdisciplinary nature of the study of international relations.