Working Group "Public Opinion, Mass Media and the Military"

Co-ordinators: WG "Public Opinion, Mass Media and the Military"

Dr. rer. pol. Markus Steinbrecher, Bundeswehr Center for Military History and Social Sciences (ZMSBw), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
lic. phil. MAS in Criminology (LL.M.) Thomas Ferst, Military Academy (MILAC) at the ETH Zurich, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

 

About

The WG "Public Opinion, Mass Media and the Military" focuses on civil-military relations, the interplay, and the interdependence of mass media, public opinion, and the military. Among the topics covered by the WG are public opinion on the military and its deployments, on security and foreign policy, and on all issues related to the armed forces. The WG also looks at all activities of the armed forces to inform and influence public opinion and the mass media. And the WG is interested in media content and impact analyses related to the military.

The cooperation in the field provides a new impetus to the development of research: cross-national comparison of research results, research projects commissioned by national and international institutions, and global networking. The process of collaboration gives an opportunity to scientists and experts in the field of media studies and public opinion surveys to create common theoretical concepts and methodological approaches, to nurture openness towards fresh and unconventional ideas, to practice greater objectivity of research through comparison and verification, and to establish common research standards.

 

News and Activities

Edited Volume in ERGOMAS book series:

We are currently working on an edited volume based on our Potsdam Workshop in 2023. The working title of the book is "From the Cold War to the Ukraine War - The Impact of Events and Turning Points on Public Opinion on Foreign and Security Policy". It will be published in the ERGOMAS book series "The Military and Society" with Springer in 2025.

 

WG-Workshop in 2025:

The WG is planning another workshop in 2025. We will decide on topic(s) and the venue in fall 2024 and send an open call for papers in early 2025.

 

ERGOMAS General Conference 2024 in Stockholm:

The WG hosted five exciting sessions at the ERGOMAS General Conference 2024 in Stockholm. Topics covered in the presentations included:

- Session 1: Perceptions of NATO in Latvia, Switzerland, and Slovenia as well as attitudes towards NATO membership and their development in Sweden

- Session 2: The image of the Lithuanian armed forces in Russian propaganda channels, disinformation efforts by states and non-state actors, and the impact of discrimination  scandals in the armed forces on public opinion in Canada

- Session 3: Public opinion on development cooperation and international engagement in Germany, perceptions of Austrian neutrality, threat perceptions in Poland and Ukraine,  as well as an analysis of defence policy and political culture

- Session 4: Attitudes towards the military in Slovenia, Slovakia, and the Netherlands

- Session 5: Attitudes towards the military in Switzerland, the impact of survey modes on attitudes towards security policy and the military in Switzerland, and the correlates of the willingness to defend in Germany

 

WG-Workshop in Potsdam, October 18-20, 2023:

The WG “Public Opinion, Mass Media, and the Military” and the Bundeswehr Center for Military History and Social Sciences hosted a joint workshop titled "From the Cold War to the War in Ukraine. The impact of events and epochal turning points on public opinion on foreign and security policy". It was held at the Bundeswehr Center for Military History and Social Sciences (ZMSBw) in Potsdam from October 18 to October 20, 2023.

Theme of the workshop: Russia’s war against Ukraine in 2022 has forced a historic shift in the foreign and security policy of many countries, a Zeitenwende (epochal turning point) as it is now referred to in the German debate. Other events, e.g., the end of the Cold War, 9/11, or the Covid 19-pandemic had similar dramatic effects on policies. However, the (long-term) impact of such epochal turning points on public opinion has hardly been analyzed by researchers. One reason for this lack of findings might be that there is neither a theoretical concept nor an objective empirical measure for a Zeitenwende that can be applied to classify changes in public opinion on policies. Another reason might be a lack of comparable time series or panel data that would allow for the analysis of causal effects of epochal turning points, external shocks, or other events.

For a summary of the workshop (in German), have a look at the website of the Bundeswehr Center for Military History and Social Sciences.

 

Paper Room/Recent Publications

- Graf, Timo; Steinbrecher, Markus; Biehl, Heiko 2024, From reluctance to reassurance: Explaining the shift in the Germans' NATO alliance solidarity following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In: Contemporary Security Policy 45 (2), 298-330.

- Steinbrecher, Markus; Biehl, Heiko; Elbe, Martin (Eds.) 2022, Empirical Social Research in and on the Armed Forces. Comparative and National Perspectives. Berlin: Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag.

- Tresch, Tibor Szvircsev; Wenger, Andreas; De Rosa, Stefano; Ferst, Thomas; Rizzo, Emanuela; Robert, Jacques 2024, Studie "Sicherheit 2024" – Aussen-, sicherheits- und verteidigungspolitische Meinungsbildung im Trend. Birmensdorf, Zuerich: MILAC, ETH.

- Tresch, Tibor Szvircsev; Wenger, Andreas; De Rosa, Stefano; Ferst, Thomas; Rizzo, Emanuela; Robert, Jacques; Roost, Till 2023, Studie "Sicherheit 2023". Aussen-, Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitische Meinungsbildung im Trend. Birmensdorf, Zuerich: MILAC, ETH.