James Pamment

Background

I am currently a nonresident fellow in the Technology and International Affairs program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In recent years I have been Head of Department at ISK, a special adviser to the EU-NATO Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, director of the Carnegie Partnership for Countering Influence Operations, and a senior analyst at the Centre for Asymmetric Threats Studies (CATS), Swedish Defence University, among other positions.

Prior to joining the Department of Strategic Communication in 2016, I was a postdoc at the Department of International Development at Oxford University, and at the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin. I was also a non-residential research fellow at the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy between 2013 and 2015. Previous to this, I have worked at Karlstad University, Uppsala University, Södertörn University College, and the Department of Journalism, Media & Communication at Stockholm University, where I completed my PhD in 2011.

Area of Research

My research is about how states influence one another using strategic communication. One major area of interest is the intersection between public engagement, international relations, and international development. In particular, how diplomats and organisations involved with foreign affairs use communication to influence the conduct of foreign relations, particularly in light of the expansion of digital media and the new opportunities for networked relationships that they offer. Publications include the books British Public Diplomacy & Soft Power: Diplomatic Influence & Digital Disruption (Palgrave International Relations & Diplomacy Series) and New Public Diplomacy in the 21st Century (Routledge New Diplomacy Series). My most recent edited book is Countering Online Propaganda and Violent Extremism (with Corneliu Bjola). I am part of the Digital Diplomacy in a Turbulent World project funded by Wallenberg (2020-2022), and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Place Branding and Public Diplomacy.

My other main area of interest is in using strategic communication to counter foreign interference, such as influence operations and hybrid threats. I have consulted and trained for a variety of countries, international organisations and companies, and have led work such as “Counter Influence Strategies for Communicators” (MSB/ Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, 2018), the “RESIST Counter-Disinformation Toolkit” (UK Government Communication Service, 2019), and the “The 4S Model” for hybrid deterrence (European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, 2020). During 2020, I supported the European External Action Service and European Commission to develop policy options for the disinformation section of the European Democracy Action Plan.

I am currently on long-term leave from ISK.