Propaganda & media
How propaganda narratives construct external enemies to rally national pride and distract from internal governance deficits.
Propaganda crafts defined external foes to unify citizens, inflame national pride, and redirect attention from domestic governance flaws, exploiting fear, nostalgia, and conspiracy theories to sustain political authority.
July 16, 2025 - 3 min Read
In many societies, political storytelling relies on vivid motives that readers can grasp quickly, especially during moments of unease or upheaval. Propaganda often centers on a clearly identified adversary, portraying the outside world as an existential threat that demands unity and extraordinary measures. This narrative simplifies complex policy debates into binary loyalties: us versus them. As leaders frame external dangers as imminent and personal, ordinary citizens feel pressed to support harsh security or economic tradeoffs. The moral clarity offered by such narratives can eclipse the unruly realities of governance, permitting decisions that may erode civil liberties or weaken accountability without provoking broad opposition.
The construction of an external enemy typically follows a recognizable arc: the danger is announced, the enemy is described with stark adjectives, and a chorus of trusted voices endorses urgent action. Media outlets, politicians, and even cultural institutions contribute to this chorus, using imagery of invasion, intrusion, or subversion. When the threat feels imminent, public patience for contested reforms declines. Citizens become more forgiving of corruption or mismanagement if they believe the leadership is directing the national effort toward a righteous fight. In this setup, domestic failings recede from public discourse as the country concentrates its energy on resisting a perceived external force.
External threats are weaponized to legitimize extraordinary governance measures.
The dynamic works through emotional cues rather than rigorous evidence. When fear or pride is invoked, rational scrutiny of policies tends to loosen its grip. Narratives emphasize sacrifice, discipline, and communal identity, suggesting that individual preferences must yield to collective needs for the sake of national survival. External enemies are depicted as schemers who exploit vulnerabilities from abroad, while domestic rivals appear as complicit or apathetic in the face of danger. This pairing of threat and virtue creates a moral economy where patriotism becomes the currency of political legitimacy. Citizens are encouraged to reward strong leadership regardless of its track record.
History provides many illustrations of how such frames reshape public opinion. In periods of economic anxiety, for example, propaganda can redirect attention away from budgetary mismanagement or unpopular reforms. By casting rival nations as the root cause of hardship—through fake news, selective reporting, or inflated casualty figures—governments can justify protective tariffs, military expansion, or surveillance expansions. The external enemy thus serves as a convenient scapegoat, allowing authorities to postpone difficult choices, postpone accountability, and preserve a narrative in which unity is achieved only through disciplined adherence to the leader’s plan.
Repetition and emotional force entrench the external threat narrative.
When the enemy frame is reinforced across institutions, it gains a persistence that outlives its initial shock value. Educational curricula, entertainment media, and corporate messaging may all echo the same villain archetype, synchronizing citizens around a common storyline. The effect is to normalize drastic policies, from expanded policing to restrictive civil liberties, as necessary steps for national protection. In turn, opposition voices are marginalized as disloyal or naive, while alternative analyses are labeled as foreign propaganda. The result is a chilling sameness in public discourse, where questions about evidence and proportionality become risks to the national project rather than healthy checks on power.
As with many rhetorical devices, repetition is crucial. Reiterating a consistent enemy image strengthens memory, which in turn anchors policy support. Over time, citizens internalize the narrative without necessarily verifying its premises. The emotional resonance of an external menace also fosters social conformity. People who might otherwise challenge government actions become collaborators in maintaining the myth, either through silence or by channeling dissent into safer, non-governmental avenues. This habituation reduces the likelihood of wide-scale mobilization against policy missteps, ensuring that governance deficits remain unaddressed while the public remains focused on the imagined crisis abroad.
Dissent is reframed as disloyalty to protect the national story.
Beyond fear, pride is another powerful driver of acceptance. Leaders lean into symbols of national heritage, shared struggles, and myths of resilience to create a story in which the same institutions emerge as indispensable guardians. The enemy then becomes not merely a political opponent but a symbol of humiliation or past weakness. By casting current vulnerabilities as temporary failures on the path to victory, the ruling class can claim a rightful mandate to reshape institutions, politics, and even education. The public, seeking dignity and continuity, may accept sweeping reforms as necessary investments in national revival.
The moral dimension also matters, with rhetoric that frames dissent as betrayal of the homeland. When critics are framed as spoilers or traitors, civil debate can feel like treason. This logic narrows avenues for legitimate scrutiny and disincentivizes whistleblowing. Officials can then pursue centralized control over information, ensuring that alternative viewpoints are confined to minority spaces. Journalists and independent voices face increased scrutiny, while state-approved narratives dominate the public square. In such environments, governance deficits—such as bureaucratic inertia, corruption exposure, or misallocation of resources—are often hidden behind the veneer of urgent, existential threat.
Media amplification shapes public perception and policy outcomes.
A core tactic is to attach the external threat to everyday life, making foreign risk feel personal. Citizens are told that their safety, jobs, and children’s futures hang in the balance unless they accept costly measures. Economic policies that might otherwise face refusal—tax hikes, tightened regulations, or reduced social spending—are reframed as investments in security. The audience, urged to sacrifice for the common good, also learns to equate resilience with loyalty to the leadership. In this arrangement, data on unemployment, inflation, or budget deficits appear less critical than the visible, dramatic narrative of defending the nation from an external force.
The media ecosystem often acts as an amplifier, delivering synchronized messages across platforms. State-affiliated outlets, mainstream channels, and social media bots may echo the same blame narrative, creating an impression of near-consensus. Such saturation reduces the space for counter-narratives to gain traction, enabling a monotone discourse that feels inevitable and uncontestable. Audiences increasingly rely on simplified cues—sound bites, slogans, and visual symbols—rather than nuanced policy analysis. The result is a public sphere where critical thinking about governance challenges becomes laborious and less appealing compared to the immediacy of crisis storytelling.
When a foreign threat is presented as imminent, governments can justify aggressive international postures without provoking domestic backlash. Military postures, sanctions, or coercive diplomacy gain moral legitimacy as defensive acts rather than expansionist moves. The narrative also casts sanctions or trade barriers as protective shields for workers and families, reframing economic pain as a permanent but acceptable sacrifice for national honor. Citizens may accept high-speed reforms, even those with limited transparency, if they are portrayed as necessary to secure a safer, more prosperous future. The enemy frame, thus, sustains political energy while deflecting attention from governance deficiencies.
In the long arc, resilient democracies confront propaganda with pluralism, transparency, and institutional checks. Independent journalism, robust civil society, and competitive elections act as counterweights to simplistic enemy narratives. By foregrounding evidence, encouraging diverse perspectives, and exposing manipulation, societies can preserve space for policy debate even amid perceived existential risks. Educating audiences to recognize rhetorical devices and to demand accountability reduces the appeal of scapegoating and overreach. When governance failures are confronted openly rather than obscured behind external threats, leaders face the discipline of accountability, and citizens can distinguish patriotism from manipulation.
