Screen diplomacy as a tool for shaping cinematic archetypes of security

Abstract

This article examines screen diplomacy as a strategic component of contemporary public diplomacy and an instrument of state soft power. It analyses how film and other screen media transmit national values and shape international images of states during periods of geopolitical crisis. Particular attention is paid to the transformation of cinematic security archetypes, in which the figures of the “Saviour” and the “Defender” become symbolic foundations of national resilience, while representations of the “External Enemy” contribute to collective perceptions of threat and to the legitimation of security responses. The study considers contemporary war-related screen narratives across Western and Ukrainian feature and documentary cinema and interprets the screen as a dynamic arena of meaning-making, political legitimation, and strategic communication. It argues that screen diplomacy operates through the interaction of public diplomacy, political semiotics, and archetypal structures, thereby influencing both domestic understandings of security and international perceptions of political actors.