In Advocacy and Change in International Relations: Communication, Protection, and Reconstruction in UN Peacekeeping, Kseniya Oksamytna illustrates how advocacy represents a powerful, though underinvestigated, source of change in international organizations. The book demonstrates how advocacy was instrumental in introducing three significant innovations in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping: strategic communications, the protection of civilians, and quick-impact reconstruction projects. Oksamytna shows that national diplomats, international bureaucrats, external experts, and civil society activists can all advocate for institutional change. To demonstrate the power of advocacy, the author develops a novel theoretical approach: the advocacy-focused framework. She identifies three advocacy strategies—social pressure, persuasion, and “authority talk”—that can be used within international organizations to drive change.

Social pressure encourages change through the manipulation of social rewards and punishments, such as a naming and shaming approach. Persuasion seeks to change minds through argumentation. “Authority talk” involves the acceptance of a message based on its source. Oksamytna also identifies factors that influence the success of these strategies, including the characteristics of both advocates and their targets,