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King's College London

Communication is the academic discipline of the 21st century. Today more than ever, it is the medium through which power is exercised. It sustains alliances, facilitates negotiations and secures support for both democrats and dictators. It can create and counter forms of violent extremism.

The King’s Centre for Strategic Communication (KCSC) is the leading global centre of expertise for strategic communications. Led by renowned experts from the Department of War Studies at King's College London, it partners with international policy and practitioner communities. Together we offer analysis of contemporary geopolitical challenges rooted in cutting-edge academic research. The Centre provides intellectual rigour and clarity of thinking to illuminate an increasingly dynamic information and communications environment. 

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Activities

Students studying together
MA Strategic Communications

Students will learn how states and their governments communicate in international politics and how they shape long term strategies in a range of fields from military to diplomatic to aid and development. Students will also encounter crisis communications: how to shape strategic responses to natural disasters, terror attacks, and military invasions.

NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence logo
NATO-KCSC Internship Programme

The NATO-KCSC intern programme offers our students an opportunity to spend a 3-month research period working at NATO StratCom Centre of Excellence in Riga, Latvia.

KCSC logo
KCSC Internships

Our KCSC Internships offer our students the opportunity to get involved in the centre’s activities. The students assist in organising different events, running centre’s social networks and editing our students’ blog.

    Student taking notes in lecture hall
    Executive Education Programme

    The KCSC Executive Education programme is designed for policymakers to help them understand better how to design flexible communication strategies for the diverse challenges they face. The course emphasises the need for intellectual rigour to find creative, evidence-based solutions to real-world communication problems. Practical workshops and scenario enactments are tailored to the needs of the institution, exposing professionals to realistic communication dilemmas.

      Publications

      Suggested readings written by our experts

      Neville Bolt and Leonie Haiden, Improving NATO Strategic Communications Terminology, (Riga: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, 2019)

      James P. Farwell, Persuasion and Power: The Art of Strategic Communication, (Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2012)

      Jente Althuis and Leonie Haiden, (eds), Fake News: A Roadmap, (Riga: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, 2018)

      Ofer Fridman, Russian ‘Hybrid Warfare’: Resurgence and Politicisation, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018)

      Neville Bolt, The Violent Image: Insurgent, Propaganda and the New Revolutionaries, (London: Hurst Publishers, 2020)

      Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Selling Hitler: Propaganda and the Nazi Brand, (London: Hurst Publishers, 2016)

      Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Marketing the Third Reich: Persuasion, Packaging and Propaganda, (London: Routledge, 2017)

      Thomas Colley, Always at War: British Public Narratives of War, (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2019)

      Francesca Granelli, Trust, Politics and Revolution: A European History, (London: I.B. Tauris, 2019)

      Paul Banes, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy and Nancy Snow, (eds), The SAGE Handbook of Propaganda, (London, SAGE Publications, 2019)

      Ofer Fridman, Vitaly Kabernik and James C. Pearce, (eds), Hybrid Conflict and Information Warfare: Old Labels, New Politics, (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2018)

      David Betz, Carnage & Connectivity: Landmarks in the Decline of Conventional Military Power, (London: Hurst Publishers, 2015)

       

       

      Activities

      Students studying together
      MA Strategic Communications

      Students will learn how states and their governments communicate in international politics and how they shape long term strategies in a range of fields from military to diplomatic to aid and development. Students will also encounter crisis communications: how to shape strategic responses to natural disasters, terror attacks, and military invasions.

      NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence logo
      NATO-KCSC Internship Programme

      The NATO-KCSC intern programme offers our students an opportunity to spend a 3-month research period working at NATO StratCom Centre of Excellence in Riga, Latvia.

      KCSC logo
      KCSC Internships

      Our KCSC Internships offer our students the opportunity to get involved in the centre’s activities. The students assist in organising different events, running centre’s social networks and editing our students’ blog.

        Student taking notes in lecture hall
        Executive Education Programme

        The KCSC Executive Education programme is designed for policymakers to help them understand better how to design flexible communication strategies for the diverse challenges they face. The course emphasises the need for intellectual rigour to find creative, evidence-based solutions to real-world communication problems. Practical workshops and scenario enactments are tailored to the needs of the institution, exposing professionals to realistic communication dilemmas.

          Publications

          Suggested readings written by our experts

          Neville Bolt and Leonie Haiden, Improving NATO Strategic Communications Terminology, (Riga: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, 2019)

          James P. Farwell, Persuasion and Power: The Art of Strategic Communication, (Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2012)

          Jente Althuis and Leonie Haiden, (eds), Fake News: A Roadmap, (Riga: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, 2018)

          Ofer Fridman, Russian ‘Hybrid Warfare’: Resurgence and Politicisation, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018)

          Neville Bolt, The Violent Image: Insurgent, Propaganda and the New Revolutionaries, (London: Hurst Publishers, 2020)

          Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Selling Hitler: Propaganda and the Nazi Brand, (London: Hurst Publishers, 2016)

          Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Marketing the Third Reich: Persuasion, Packaging and Propaganda, (London: Routledge, 2017)

          Thomas Colley, Always at War: British Public Narratives of War, (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2019)

          Francesca Granelli, Trust, Politics and Revolution: A European History, (London: I.B. Tauris, 2019)

          Paul Banes, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy and Nancy Snow, (eds), The SAGE Handbook of Propaganda, (London, SAGE Publications, 2019)

          Ofer Fridman, Vitaly Kabernik and James C. Pearce, (eds), Hybrid Conflict and Information Warfare: Old Labels, New Politics, (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2018)

          David Betz, Carnage & Connectivity: Landmarks in the Decline of Conventional Military Power, (London: Hurst Publishers, 2015)

           

           

          Our Partners

          NATO StratCom COE

          The NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, Riga, Latvia

          SHAPE NATO logo

          SHAPE/NATO Strategic Communications, Brussels

          FCO

          UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office

          Cabinet Office logo

          The Cabinet Office, UK

          Home Office logo

          Home Office, UK

          Ministry of Defence logo

          Ministry of Defence, UK

          Stratcomlab logo

          Strategic Communications Laboratory in Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia

          Contact us

          Dr Neville Bolt (Director of the Centre): neville.bolt@kcl.ac.uk
          Dr Ofer Fridman (Director of Operations): ofer.fridman@kcl.ac.uk
          Dr Francesca Granelli (Project Coordinator): francesca.granelli@kcl.ac.uk
          Leonie Haiden (Head of Project Development): leonie.haiden@kcl.ac.uk

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