Managing Crisis Abroad: The Brolin Kidnapping

Daniel Nohrstedt (2000)

The Brolin case is a contribution to the Crisis Management Europe program at CRISMART, which focuses its attention on the international and transnational aspects of crisis management. This study explores the kidnapping of two Swedish missionaries (Daniel and Paulina Brolin) in the Russian republic of Daghestan in 1998. The emphasis is on how the Swedish actors dealt with the kidnapping, especially with regards to crisis decision-making and communication. This case is analyzed drawing upon a number of themes considered particularly relevant for crisis management. These are decisional units, problem framing, information processing, value conflicts, internationalization of the crisis response, media management, and symbolic crisis communication.