Inaugural lecture: 'Strategic Humour' - Professor Dmitry Chernobrov

Inaugural lecture: 'Strategic humour: The Persuasive Power and Limitations of Humour in Foreign Policy Communication'

In a digital information environment, state and non-state actors increasingly rely on humour to frame complex international events to their advantage. Through satirical deepfakes, viral memes, pranks and trolling, they engage in the competitive storytelling of foreign policy. Such humour is not merely intended to entertain; it is used strategically to contest events, challenge adversaries’ narratives, and legitimate policy. In this talk, I explore the concept of strategic humour – a participatory repertoire of public diplomacy that advances state interests through narrative outreach and persuasion.

In an era where conflict is narrated through memes and global politics has become a theatre of constant contestation, a vital question emerges: can state-sponsored humour actually persuade? While humour triggers public involvement in co-producing and amplifying strategic narratives, does it truly facilitate opinion change or influence foreign policy outcomes? This inaugural lecture examines humour as a persuasive instrument of foreign policy communication, analysing the strategic advantages it offers and the inherent dangers it creates.

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Dmitry Chernobrov is Professor of Communication and International Relations at the School of Information, Journalism and Communication. In 2022-2024, he was also a Research Fellow at the Center on Public Diplomacy, University of Southern California. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of St Andrews and a PhD in History from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. His research focuses on foreign policy narratives, their contestation and perception. He is the author of an award-winning book Public Perception of International Crises (2019) and has written about conflict narratives and ontological security, diasporas and participatory warfare, and humour in international political communication.