Defining identity: International Organisations and communication in a comparative perspective. The EGF case.

Abstract

My work examines the European Gendarmerie Force, a recent and small International Organisation aimed to the securitisation of European borders, and its communication plan. Hence, the question I want to investigate is the importance of communication strategies in International organisations. In order to achieve my purpose, I analyse the importance for IOs of the creation of a precise identity, and how it can be spread through digital communication to reach a vast variety of customers, defined as a specific target. Therefore, the aim of my thesis is to develop a guideline for the EGF, to provide the Organisation with the best tools and consequently invert the negative communication trends experienced in the last years. Recently, social media have proved to be a major aspect of firms’ finance impact, due to the rapid visibility they can bring to every kind of business. In this contest, some of the main IOs have improved their performances, moving from traditional external communication to social media campaigns. This process allows firms and organisations to transform or upgrade their position, however, is there actually a link between Internet-related issues and a different trustworthiness of institutions and organisations? As shown in the work, this datum is correlated to the type of behaviour users have toward the Internet in different European countries. Can the Europe 2020 Strategy be effective to the aim of my dissertation? As it is a crucial aspect for the digitalisation of Europe, I analyse its features related to EGF member States. Furthermore, I examine EGF communication choices and the negative response it received, trying to understand what went missing in the process of definition of the Organisation and why.