Strategic narratives and participatory repertoires: the case of strategic humour

This article revisits the relationship between strategic narratives and public diplomacy through the prism of participatory repertoires—strategic communication tactics that trigger the involvement of publics in co-producing, amplifying, negotiating and validating narratives. Participatory repertoires can maximize audience outreach, decentralize strategic narratives, bolster their credibility through validation by non-state actors, and reshape the ways public diplomacy pursues influence. I specifically focus on strategic humour—the deliberate use of humour to engage domestic and foreign publics and promote narratives that advance state interests through wider outreach, persuasion and participation. State actors increasingly engage in competitive storytelling of foreign policy via parodies, memes, pranks, and satirical deepfakes in order to contest realities, challenge adversaries’ narratives, and claim new positionalities in the international system. Taking the example of Russian public diplomacy, I demonstrate how strategic humour enabled state actors to promote and validate the strategic narrative of Russophobia—portraying Russia as a victim of unjustified Western hostility, deflecting external criticism, and legitimizing its global counter-hegemonic claim. The paper concludes by questioning the impact of participatory repertories on the ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of public diplomacy and the spiraling fragmentation of reality in international relations.