This article
introduces the Special Section EU-Ukraine Heritage Diplomacy: Media Narratives
and Strategic Communication in the ‘Global South’. The section presents
outcomes of a transnational research project that explores challenges and
opportunities of EU-Ukraine heritage diplomacy during the ongoing war against
Ukraine. As a specific direction of cultural diplomacy, heritage diplomacy and
its securitization have acquired a sense of urgency for the EU. Contributing to
this novel field and arguing the importance of attentive and systematic
listening by the EU to its external partners, this Special section focuses on
the analysis of narratives and frames of Ukraine’s cultural and historic
heritage and the EU in leading media in the selected countries of the ‘Global
South’ – Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and South Africa. Our Introductory
article outlines the place of the strategic communication perspective in
heritage diplomacy by the EU and Ukraine. It details the ontology that guides
the methodology of our multi-country comparative study and introduces five empirical
cases featured in the Special section. We conclude with our arguments about the
relevance and importance of the in-depth systematic research into narratives
surrounding cultural and historic heritage in international relations. In a
turbulent world, the securitization of cultural and historical heritage adds
another layer of complexity to the international dialogue and collaboration,
including that between the EU and Ukraine.