The look of NATO: Comparing visual representations of military force and alliance identity in 1984 and 2021
Journal: European Journal of International Security
Year: 2025

Abstract As social identities are not static but made, actors constantly invest in their public image, financially, institutionally, and aesthetically. This article examines and compares two vignettes of NATO’s public (visual) diplomacy and strategic communication. It shows the changing nature of the visual communication that NATO has applied to rationalise its military force and to fix its collective identity. In addition, the article illustrates that the changing visual communication of the al