Soft Power and International Relations

Sánchez, S (2020). Soft Power Chino y Diplomacia Pública: Un análisis de comunicación política hacia América del Sur. En: Caldevilla, D. (Edit). Unidos por la Comunicación: Libro de Actas del Congreso Internacional Latina de Comunicación Social 2020. Madrid: Editorial Historia de los Sistemas Informativos.
https://congresolatina.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/LIBRO-DE-ACTAS-CON-COMITE.pdf
ISBN: 978-84-09-25842-0

States construct domestic and international relations through communications of an economic, security and cultural nature, internationally to shape global order. The mid-20thcentury US-sponsored United Nations initiative and China’s 21stcentury Belt and Road
Initiative (BRI) are examples. China’s economic and military rise generates opportunities and challenges in its region and specifically for India, sharing disputed borders. Chinese construction of transport infrastructure and ports in countries in the Indian Ocean littoral, are of
concern to India and some other neighbours. Economic benefits of Chinese trade and investment have incentivized neighbours to join BRI but Indian media has registered security anxiety and concern about its
neighbours falling into a ‘debt trap’. A security-economic-cultural (hard and soft power) construct (combines policy transnationalization and public diplomacy initiatives) is used to examine the policy response to BRI, in India in particular, and media sentiment in selected Indian Ocean littoral countries. Both positive and negative frames/sentiments were
registered for policies around economic actions of China across the sample. While security dimensions were less in evidence than economic dimensions by a ratio of 1 to 4, their presence has implications for both Chinese and Indian messaging on BRI.

“Power is war, the continuation of war by other means”: Foucault’s reversal of Clausewitz’s formula has become a staple of critical theory — but it remains highly problematic on a conceptual level. Elaborated during Foucault’s 1976 lectures (“Society Must Be Defended”), this work-hypothesis theorises “basic warfare” [la guerre fondamentale] as the teleological horizon of socio-political relations. Following Boulainvilliers, Foucault champions this polemological approach, conceived as a purely descriptive discourse on “real” politics and war, against the philosophico-juridical conceptuality attached to liberal society (Hobbes’s Leviathan being here the prime example).
However, in doing so, Foucault did not interrogate the conceptual validity of notions such as power and war, therefore interlinking them without questioning their ontological status. This problematic conflation was partly rectified in 1982, as Foucault proposed a more dynamic definition of power relations: “actions over potential actions”.
I argue, somewhat polemically, that Foucault’s hermeneutics of power still involves a teleological violence, dependent on a polemological representation of human relations as essentially instrumental: this resembles what Derrida names, in “Heidegger’s Ear”, an “anthropolemology”. However, I show that all conceptualisation of power implies its self-deconstruction. This self-deconstructive (or autoimmune) structure supposes an archi-originary unpower prior to power: power presupposes an excess within power, an excessive force, another violence making it both possible and impossible. There is something within power located “beyond the power principle” (Derrida). This (self-)excess signifies a limitless resistantiality co-extensive with power-relationality. It also allows the reversal of pólemos into its opposite, as unpower opens politics and warfare to the messianic call of a pre-political, pre-ontological disruption: the archi-originary force of différance. This force, unconditional, challenges Foucault’s conceptualisations of power, suggesting an originary performativity located before or beyond hermeneutics of power-knowledge, disrupting theoreticity as well as empiricity by pointing to their ontological complicity.
The bulk of this essay is dedicated to sketching the theoretical implications of this deconstructive reading of Foucault with respect to the methodology and conceptuality of political science and social theory.

Yemek, etrafında birçok sosyal pratiği şekillendiren güçlü bir iletişim
aracıdır. Uluslararası ilişkilerde düzenleyici ve belirleyici bir misyona sahip
olan bu araç, 21. yüzyılda kamu diplomasisinin en önemli rgümanlarından biri olarak kabul edilmektedir. Özellikle gelişmekte olan ülkeler, uluslararası
platformda imajlarını güçlendirmek, itibarlarını arttırmak, ulusal arkalarını
oluşturmak, turizm gelirlerini yükseltmek ve mevcut önyargıları kırmak
maksadıyla yemeğin yumuşak gücünü ön plana çıkarmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, mutfağın uluslararası ilişkilerde yumuşak güç olarak kullanımı, ilgili literatür taranarak ortaya konulmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, öncelikle yumuşak güç ve gastrodiplomasi kavramları irdelenmektedir. Ardından dünyadaki gastro-diplomasi faaliyetleri ülkeler bazında ele alınarak, Türkiye’nin sahip olduğu gastronomi temelli yumuşak güç pratikleri üzerine bir değerlendirme yapılmaktadır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Gastronomi, Yumuşak Güç, Kültür

In the age of disruption and in today’s platform society (Van Dijck et al., 2019), communication between nation states is influenced by the development of technology. The nation state is responding to the new communication environment through “techplomacy” and through the use of Artificial Intelligence as a strategic asset in the global tech race. Artificial Intelligence (AI), including the strategies to come up with viable AI, has a big potential for nation branding, being also a competitive advantage for countries worldwide. In this context, the aim of our research is to investigate technology as a soft power (Nye, 2004) instrument for Romania and to analyze how the nation brand is constructed in relation to technology. In doing so, our research revolves around the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy for Romania, presented at the IT&C Summit on May 8, 2019, and 50 news articles, published in the quality press (Adevărul, Gândul, România Liberă) employing mixed methods such as fra...

Çin yükselen ekonomisi ve siyasi etkisi ile küresel bir güç konumundadır. Çin bu konuma sadece askeri gücünü kullanarak değil yumuşak gücünü kullanarak gelmiştir. Yumuşak güç bir ülkenin kültürünün, siyasi fikirlerinin ve politikalarının cezbediciliğinden kaynaklanmaktadır. Yumuşak güç küre-sel konumunu korumak adına Çin için vazgeçilmez bir politika aracıdır. Bu çalışmada Çin'in yumuşak güç unsurları incelenmektedir. Çalışmada Çin'in yumuşak güç yöntemi ve bu yöntemin etkinliği sorgulanmaktadır. Çin'in yumuşak gücü ile ekonomik gelişimi arasındaki bağlantı incelenmektedir. İnceleme sırasında Çin'in yumuşak gücüne dair anketlerden yararlanılmıştır. Çin'in dünyadaki yatırımlarına dair ekonomik veriler kullanılmıştır. Çin dostane şekilde diplomatik ilişkilerini genişletmeyi ve dünya ile ekonomik entegrasyonunu artırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Çin'in barışçıl ekonomik yükselişi kültür, siyasi değerler ve diplomasiyi içeren yumuşak güç ile birlikte gerçekleşmektedir. Çin güç kullanmak yerine Konfüçyus felsefesi ile birlikte razı etme anlayışı ve gönüllü bir yayılmacılık içerisindedir. Konfüçyüsçülük Çin'in küresel politikaları açısından çatışmacı yerine barışçıl güç geçişlerine yardımcı olabilir. Çin ABD gibi bir küresel güç olmak istediğine dair algıyı yönetmek için yumuşak gücü uygulamaktadır. Çin'in yumuşak güç politikaları küresel güç mücadelesi içerisinde olduğu ABD'ye karşıtlık oluşturmaktadır. Çin'in yumuşak gücü artmış ancak henüz başta ABD olmak üzere Batılı devletlerinki kadar etkin hale gelmemiştir. Çin gelişmekte olan ülkelerde yaygın bir şekilde ekonomik bir ortak olarak görülse de Çin'in kültürü-nün ve değerlerinin yayılması aynı hızda ilerlememiştir.

Bu çalışmanın amacı, Kafkasya coğrafyasını tanımlamak aktörlerini belirlemek ve bu çerçevede bölgedeki Türk etkisini tarihi perspektiften geleceğe taşımak için fikir mülahazaları yapmaktır. Bize hem yakın hem uzak hem benzer hem değişik olan bu coğrafya bu anlamda dikkatli analizi yapmayı ve kavramları doğru oturtma özenini gerektirmektedir. Bu sebepten ötürü çalışmayı iki akademisyen müştereken yapmanın daha doğru olacağına kanaat getirdik.

As a formerly colonized country, India takes very seriously the defence of its sovereignty and of its independence of action in the external realm as well as its identity as a Third World nation. These reasons contribute to its reluctance to push a democratic agenda in its foreign policy even though it has a democratic political system at home. Another important feature of India’s foreign policy operation is that despite a federal structure, foreign policy remains a highly centralized and executive function. This in turn limits space for creative public diplomacy initiatives especially along India’s international borders, which are often the sites of various kinds of dispute and contestation both at the state-to-state level and at the people-to-people level. Indian elites and the general public are perhaps slowly beginning to realize that dichotomy between the internal and the external in terms of social and political values and engagement do not make for good publicity. In particular, China’s rise is likely to bring the democracy argument with its specific Indian characteristics as opposed to its Western heritage into sharper relief. At the moment though, contradictions in Indian public diplomacy remain writ large.

The text treats the Polish cultural and historical resource and soft power potential in the form of a reservoir of symbolic references to the „Rzeczpospolita”. The text includes the theoretical framework of soft power, referring to the great-space idea which is the Three Seas Initiative. The text presents a scheme of Polish cultural and symbolic potential as a resource. Its presence in the Three Seas Initiative has been verified through the analysis of political events, documents and speeches.
It explores the presence of Polish soft power resources and activities in the Three Seas Initiative through the analysis of political events, documents and speeches

This article aims to provide a retrospective view of the Peace Corps in Turkey. It is based on a number of books and articles written by returned Peace Corps Volunteers as well as personal and email interviews and correspondence with some of the surviving volunteers who are now in their late seventies or early eighties. It also includes the ideas of a number of Turkish academics and educators, whom this author interviewed, on the Peace Corps and the volunteers they met.

La Globalización en Transición

Resumen (Español)
Este artículo se corresponde con la conferencia que pronuncié el 5 de mayo de 2021 como Lección Magistral de Apertura del Curso 2021 de la Real Academia Gallega de Ciencias:
La primera parte (“Introducción”), describe las características esenciales de los dos tipos de globalización que se desarrollaron en los tiempos modernos: la llamada “globalización de la Belle Époque” (1870-1914) y la reciente hiperglobalización (1970-2008).
La segunda parte (“Hacia una globalización diferente”) se destina al análisis de las cuatro grandes tendencias principales que actualmente están transformando la globalización hacia un modelo diferente:
 Ralentización de su ritmo
 Mayor regionalización
 Cambios estructurales en el contenido de los flujos internacionales y en la relevancia de los actores (gobiernos, países y empresas)
 Multipolaridad

La tercera parte (“Factores de Perturbación”) se centra en el examen del posicionamiento de los dos principales actores en la pugna por la hegemonía en el nuevo orden mundial, USA y China, respecto de las tres formas básicas de poder: poder militar, poder económico y soft power.
La parte final (“La cooperación necesaria”), advierte que los esfuerzos de los países, especialmente las superpotencias, para mantener o mejorar su posicionamiento en la jerarquía internacional, con una utilización intensa de su poder militar, económico y soft, es fuente de posibles perturbaciones que pueden derivar en peligrosas influencias sobre el curso de la globalización. Además, muestra como la debilidad de los sistemas amortiguadores de que actualmente dispone la economía mundial puede exacerbar este riesgo.

Finalmente recomienda afrontar este problema mediante el fortalecimiento de organismos multilaterales que representen adecuadamente el peso de los distintos países (cosa que hoy no sucede) y que, por ello, puedan facilitar la resolución de los conflictos, la eficaz canalización de los esfuerzos para resolver los grandes problemas globales y, finalmente, la promoción de unas relaciones internacionales basadas en reglas.


Globalization in Transition

The English version of this article is available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3866650 or https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3866650

Abstract

This article corresponds to the Opening Magisterial Lecture of the 2021 Course of the Royal Galician Academy of Science which I gave on May 5th, 2021.
The first part (“Introduction”) describes the essential features of the two types of globalization seen in modern times: the so-called “Belle Époque globalization” (1870-1914) and the recent “hyper globalization” (1970-2008).
The second part ("Towards a different globalization") is devoted to the analysis of the four main trends that are currently transforming globalization towards a different model:
 A Slowdown in pace
 Increasing regionalization
 Structural changes to the content and actors (governments, countries, and companies) of international flows
 Multipolarity
The third part (“Disturbance Factors”) focuses on the relative position of the two main actors in the struggle for hegemony in the new world order, the USA and China, with respect to the three basic forms of power: military power, economic power, and soft power.
The final part ("The necessary cooperation"), warns that the efforts of individual countries, especially the superpowers, to maintain or improve their position in the international hierarchy, with an intense use of their military, economic and soft power, is a source of possible disturbances that can alter the course of globalization in dangerous ways.
It further shows how the depleted “buffer systems” currently available to the world economy can exacerbate this risk.
Finally, it provides recommendations on how to deal with this problem, in particular through the strengthening of multilateral organizations that adequately represent the weight of the different countries (not the case today). These institutions can facilitate the resolution of conflicts, the effective channelling of efforts to resolve major global problems and, finally, the promotion of rules-based international relations.

How can we explain the dynamics of nonconventional struggles such as the Gaza flotilla case of May 2010? Most international relations scholars analyze international disputes using a “chess logic,” according to which the actors seek to outmaneuver their opponents on the battleground. However, an increasing number of clashes are guided by a “performance logic”: although the players interact with one another, their real targets are audiences. The present study aims to bridge this gap, proposing a phenomenological framework for analyzing this particular kind of performative contest over legitimation and delegitimation in contemporary conflicts. It expands upon the idea that current anarchical global politics increasingly lead contending actors to engage in “pure” legitimation struggles—“battles for legitimacy”—seeking to persuade international audiences that they deserve political support. After providing guidelines for the identification of these phenomena, this article presents a model for the methodical examination of their interactive dynamics based on three legitimation functions (appropriateness, consensus, empathy). This model is applied to the flotilla case by mapping the protagonists’ framing contests across “legitimation (battle)fields.” The findings of this study, which emphasize the strong interplay between normative, political, and emotional mechanisms for empowering (de)legitimation strategies, can contribute to expanding the research program concerning international legitimacy.

This article argues that there are economic and political motives behind the response to the Rohingya humanitarian crisis issue which
identified as a form of soft power rivalry penetrated by the United States (US) and China. Some previous articles examined the rivalries of the
two countries with a focus only on security and economic issues, but there are no articles discuss the rivalry of soft power between the two
countries. To examine, this article utilizes qualitative research methods with case study approaches and data collecting techniques with
literature studies. This article concludes the existence of gas and oil pipelines in Rakhine, Kyaukpyu port as a cross-trade route, the spread of
democratic values influenced by the US, and the issue of the Uighur Muslim crisis in Xinjiang are the economic and political national interest
wish to pursue through soft power rivalry of the two superpower countries.

I am sharing the introduction and the conclusion of my new book on Disney, Hollywood and cultural capitalism. This book sheds new light on the socio-economic impact of multinational corporations. Combining Cultural Studies and International Political Economy, it provides a revealing analysis of the Walt Disney Company, and by extension the wider Hollywood studio system. It does so by examining the cultural and economic forces powering the industry's expansion, the 'civilisation' that Disney disseminates, and the various ways that societies beyond the USA have adopted facets of the Hollywood productions to which they are exposed. Identifying both the strengths and the weaknesses of these transnational firms, it demonstrates the significance of their contribution to American power and predominance.

The aim of this article is to demonstrate how a relational concept of power can benefit Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). It begins by drawingattention to the fact that Japan’s foreign policy has been portrayedrather enigmatically in terms of power, and by arguing that such anenigma stems from the fact that FPA has borrowed the concept of power of much International Relations (IR) theory, i.e. one that putspower on a par with capability. With a point of departure in StevenLukes’ relational concept of power, the article then conceptualizes analternative perspective. By applying the ensuing ‘relational poweranalysis’ to two ‘significant’ issues in Japan’s China policy, namely thenegotiations for bilateral investment protection and interaction over the disputed Pinnacle (Senkaku or
Diaoyu) Islands, the article demon-strates that Japan’s foreign policy can be portrayed more intelligibly interms of power, and thereby also how power could be treated in FPA inthe first place.

Discussion on the distinctions between brand management in the corporate vs. the public sphere; the question of how image and identity are managed by elected governments in a democratic nation vs. appointed or self-appointed management in an essentially "tyrannical" commercial corporation.

Katar son yıllarda Ortadoğu'da gerek tek başına gerekse uluslararası örgütler vasıtasıyla yoğun bir dış politik etkinlik içerisindedir. Körfezin bu küçük ama etkin ülkesi adından son dönemlerin popüler politik söylemi olan yumuşak güçle anılmaktadır. Gerçektende kavramı çalışacak olan bir siyaset bilimci için Katar'ın faaliyetleri define hükmündedir. Katar'ın Lübnan'daki çözümde ki etkinliği, Filistin meselesinde ve Arap baharında ki gösterdiği duruşu bunun yanında gerek ABD ve Çin gibi dünya devletleriyle ilişkileri; gerekse Türkiye ve İran gibi bölge ülkeleriyle kurduğu ilişkileri, Katar'ın etkin çalışan bir dış politikaya sahip olduğunu göstermektedir. GİRİŞ Dünya, ikinci dünya savası sonrası dönemde birleşik devletler ve Sovyetler Birliği arasında iki kutuplu bir yapı ile yönetilmiştir. Sonraki süreçte 1990'lı yıllarda tek kutuplu bir yapıya evirilmiştir ve tek hegamonik güç olarak Amerika Birleşik Devletler(ABD) kalmıştır. Bundan sonra 2000'li yıllarda itibaren dünya daha çok çok kutuplu bir profil göstermiştir. Bu çok kutuplu yapıya izin veren en önemli mesele askeri ve güvenlik konularına olan, ilginin ekonomik, sosyal ve kültürel meselelere kaymış olmasıdır. Bu kapsamda üzerinde durulması gereken bir kavramda yumuşak güçtür. Özellikle bu yeni dönemde askeri yönde zayıf anacak başka özellikleri bakımından güçlü ülkelere yeni türden bir ilişki süreci başlamıştır. Bu yöntemi kullanan başta ikinci dünya savaşı sonrası askeri yönden dağılmış olan Avrupa ülkeleri olmuştur. Bununla beraber Japonya gibi Uzakdoğu ülkelerinde yöntem olarak bu strateji kullanılmıştır. Bu ülkeler kurdukları diplomatik ilişkilerde muhataplarını daha çok ticari, kültür, sanat ve bilim gibi organizasyonlar ile ikna etme gayreti içerisine girişmişlerdir.

RESUME
Avec le processus de mondialisation, de plus en plus de pays sont désireux de présenter une image d'eux-mêmes facilement compréhensible et favorable à leurs politiques et le Japon ne fait pas exception. Comme la plupart des pays aujourd'hui, le Japon, avec sa politique «Cool Japan», tente de se créer une image de lui-même à travers des stratégies de l’image de marque nationale. Les racines de cette politique se trouvent dans la diplomatie culturelle du Japon, qui remonte à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale par laquelle le Japon a tenté de créer et de gérer l’image d’une nation pacifique et pacifiste. Depuis le début du millenium, ces efforts de diplomatie culturelle essayant à renforcer une image pacifique et pacifiste du Japon a été transformée à une politique de l’image de marque nationale par laquelle le Japon a commencé à promouvoir son soft power en le fusionnant avec les éléments attirant de sa culture populaire. Même si les termes de « la puissance douce » et « l’image de marque nationale » sont relativement nouveaux, ils sont essentiels pour la compréhension de la diplomatie culturelle japonaise et donc la politique de « Cool Japan » comme elles sont intimement liées.
Dans ce travail, les efforts de marque nationale du Japon sous le nom de « Cool Japan » et par extension sa diplomatie culturelle à travers l'utilisation de la culture populaire sont discutés et évalués selon la notion de la puissance douce développée par Joseph Nye et selon les objectifs et le contexte dans lesquels les politiques de l’image de marque nationale « Cool Japan » sont mises en œuvre.

ABSTRACT
With the process of globalization, more and more countries are keen to present an image of themselves that is easily understandable and favorable to their policies and Japan is no exception. Like most countries today, Japan, with its “Cool Japan” policy, tries to create an image of itself through nation-branding strategies. The roots of this policy can be found in Japan's cultural diplomacy, which dates back to the end of World War II in which Japan attempted to create and manage the image of a peaceful and peaceful nation. Since the turn of the millennium, these cultural diplomacy efforts trying to bolster a peaceful and pacifist image of Japan has been transformed into a nation-branding policy whereby Japan began to promote its soft power by merging it with the attractive elements of its popular culture. Even though the terms “Soft Power” and “nation-branding” are relatively new, they are essential for the understanding of Japanese cultural diplomacy and therefore the politics of “Cool Japan” as they are closely related.
In this work, Japan's national branding efforts under the name “Cool Japan” and by extension its cultural diplomacy through the use of popular culture are discussed and evaluated according to the notion of Soft Power developed by Joseph Nye and according to the objectives and the regional and global context in which “Cool Japan” nation-branding policies are implemented.

ÖZET
Küreselleşme süreciyle birlikte, giderek daha fazla ülke kendileriyle ilgili kolayca anlaşılır ve politikalarına uygun bir imaj sunmaya istekli hale gelmiştir ve Japonya da bu konuda bir istisna değildir. Bugün birçok ülke gibi Japonya da “Cool Japan” politikasıyla ulus marka stratejileri aracılığıyla kendi imajını yaratmaya çalışmaktadır. Bu politikanın kökleri, Japonya'nın barışçıl ve barışçıl bir ulus imajını yaratmaya ve yönetmeye çalıştığı II. Dünya Savaşı'nın sonuna kadar uzanan Japonya'nın kültürel diplomasisinde bulunabilir. 2000li yılların başlangıcından bu yana, Japonya'nın barışçıl ve pasifist imajını güçlendirmeye hedefinde olan bu kültürel diplomasi çabaları, Japonya'nın yumuşak gücünü popüler kültürünün çekici unsurlarıyla birleştirerek güçlendirmeye çalıştığı bir ulus markalama politikasına dönüşmüştür. “Yumuşak Güç” ve “ulus-marka” terimleri nispeten yeni olsa da, yakından ilişkili oldukları için Japon kültürel diplomasisini ve dolayısıyla “Cool Japan” siyasetini anlamak için gereklidir.
Bu çalışmada, Japonya'nın “Cool Japan” adı altında ulusal markalaşma politikaları ve buna bağlı olarak popüler kültürü kendine bir temel edinmeye başlamış olan kültürel diplomasisi, Joseph Nye tarafından geliştirilen Yumuşak Güç kavramına ve Japonya'nın dış politika amaçlarına ve bölgesel ve küresel bağlama göre tartışılmakta ve değerlendirilmektedir.

Sometimes the Chinese dream is of sustainable development, of anti-corruption, of constitutionalism, of a clean environment, or of social harmony. Essentially, like the American dream or any dream for that matter, the Chinese dream can mean anything to anyone. However, more so than in 'democratic societies', where dreaming is free and extensively discussed, the authoritarian Chinese government and Communist Party seem to have a problem as these slogans do not resonate with the broader public, neither nationally nor internationally

Problematyka niniejszego tekstu została zawężona do problemu wykorzystania twardej i miękkiej siły przez Rosję i UE wobec poradzieckich państw czarnomorskich (Gruzji i Ukrainy oraz Mołdowy, Armenii i Azerbejdżanu). Trzy ostatnie państwa nie leżą bezpośrednio nad Morzem Czarnym jednak bliskie położenie oraz związki historyczne z tym regionem wskazują na zasadność włączenia ich do obszaru czarnomorskiego.

Although 30 years have passed since it was first formulated by the American political scientist Joseph Nye Jr, experts in international relations still debate on the contribution that soft power can give in foreign policy. This article aims to analyse the epistemological framework of soft power since its elaboration over the years till now. The research delves into two essential angles of soft power. The former is the study on the relevance of the concept of soft power in the current political dynamics. The latter is the definition of the idea of soft power with a focus on the evolution of such an idea since it was formulated by Joseph Nye Jr. The academic debate around the concept of soft power can be summarised mostly around four points: (1) the definition of soft power, (2) the relationship between hard and soft power; (3) resources and behaviours generating soft power; (4) the actors involved, when we speak about soft power. In the political debate of the last few years, some political scientists and practitioners have raised doubts about relevance and effectiveness of soft power in the current international political dynamics. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, which is reshaping the global order, is demonstrating that deploying effective public diplomacy is still crucial in international relations.

This essay shall argue that rules and norms significantly shape, influence and define the behaviour of states in the international system in a plethora of ways which are spelt and best explained through international law, multilateralism (The structure of the international system) and constructivism. In pursuit of this argument, the essay shall set out to analyse how the various rules that bind states which are in the form of international treaties, conventions as administered through international organizations and institutions and ultimately as in the view of constructivism, have power towards defining the course of action taken by states, the code of conduct of states in the international system, the pursuit of national interests as part of states foreign policy towards each other, the process of international relations in the context of diplomacy and ultimately how they define state behaviour. Schuett and Stirk (2015) assert that, in international relations the state is assumed to be a person by virtue of its ability to act intentionally, if not always rationally, as they are same way regarded as persons by virtue of being bearers of rights and obligations. It is with no doubt that, as realist theory thinkers assert that the behaviour of states within the international system is essentially focused on the pursuit of state interests, it is also governed through a set of laws and principles established to watch over and set rules of conduct which are meant to be adhered to. State interests are what Schuett and Stirk (2015) have alluded to as state obligations which are embedded equally in the framework of the state as bearer of rights thereby bringing in the law factor. The state is a bearer of rights as the above assertion because it is obliged to adhere towards both domestic and international law thus international rules and best practices (Norms). State behaviour shall be understood and discussed within the context of the state's pursuit of national interests as postulated through realist theories, the state's preoccupation with wealth accumulation and power as argued through neo liberalism, the agent structure relationship, the concept of sovereignty, security and Alexander Wendt's approach on Anarchy as well as the most important to this analysis, the state's position

The scope of this essay is to underline and comprehend the role of soft power that is associated with the Belt and Road Initiative. It is really important to implore further into this particular topic during a time of fading American influence across the world, The promotion of Chinese soft power is to serve domestic purposes. In particular, Chinese soft power is designed to “better safeguard the people’s cultural rights, to enrich the cultural life of the Chinese society, and to raise the people’s aspiration for progress. The expansion of Chinese soft power abroad aims to serve dual purposes. Internally, it contributes to social cohesiveness which could be translated into public support for the government action. Externally, it could help de-legitimize the US hegemony.

China is trying to bring in more people from across the world in touch with Chinese understandings and preferences and by explaining their source, the hope is that people will become more accepting of them – ultimately, perhaps, they might even share and support them, but the aim at least in the short run is for them not to be found worrying and/or offensive. For western society particularly for the elites, there often has been a gathering amount of interest in understanding and perceiving the Chinese culture in their sort of way. In developing its own soft power, China wants to undermine that of the United States of America which threaten the legitimacy of an authoritarian China.

This essay intends to provide a political-economy grounded analysis of the ideas of soft power in the context of US foreign policy. It argues that Nye's theory of soft power amounts to little more than the latest update of cultural imperialism, and uses a critical theory lense to examine the political and economic basis of cultural imperialism as expressed in soft power theories. After introducing Nye's notion of soft power and Adorno and Horkheimer's analysis of the culture industries, this essay examines how the latter can serve as a criticism for the former, while being aware of its limitations. Despite often being dismissed as obsolete, Adorno and Horkheimer's analysis productively serves to better understand the workings of soft power theories. If we add to this a nuanced understanding of empire such as that independently provided by Samir Amin and Victoria de Grazia, the concept of soft power is cast in a new critical light which does not dismiss soft power as mere imperial propaganda but reflects on what is lost through its imposition, looking at examples in places such as Nigeria and South Africa. Although arguing that the alternative to unidirectional soft power is cultural reciprocity and humility, this essay is also wary of the recent developments within the infotainment industries, which may signal the advent of a new global economic cycle.

This article aims at introducing two new concepts: Hack Power and Cyberbullying Power, which complement and broaden the Hybrid Warfare approach and, at the same time, reveal a series of academic characteristics that enables their assessment as independent conceptual tools to identify a new kind of military maneuvers, whose objective is the use of digital and psychological techniques to promote color revolutions through the imposition of ideologies and the removal of politically incorrect information from internet and social media. The collected results indicate that the Hack Power and the Cyberbullying Power are two new categories of military power which could be implemented among digital security, defense and attack systems of some governments with regard to the threats of hostile organizations. However, it should be pointed out that the content of this article is directly linked to the conclusions arising from the article Clockwork Cyberactivism (esp. Ciberactivismo mecánico), which was issued under the supervision of the Saint Petersburg State University. Finally, a series of bibliographical, journalistic and digital sources have been consulted for this article, which have been useful to identify a set of recurring military and corporative activities deployed in the last few years through social media and which tend to evolve as they reach positive outcomes.

In June 2017, forty-five Muslim students— Dungans 东干族 from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan — celebrated their graduation from a four-year course of study at Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou, Gansu province. All these activities facilitate the establishment of a new Silk Road community with a ‘shared destiny’.

A qualitative study of Chinese soft power tools in African states: How is China using its soft power and what are the implications for African states? Master's thesis presented with a view to obtaining the degree of Master's in Political Science , Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

The concept of soft power occupies a prominent place in International Relations, foreign policy, and security studies. Primarily developed by Joseph S. Nye, the concept is typically drawn upon to emphasize the more intangible dimensions of power in a field long dominated by overtly material (i.e. military) power. Recently, some scholars have reframed soft power — specifically the key notion of attraction — as a narrative and linguistic process. This literature, however, has downplayed some of the other deep-seated underpinnings of soft power, which this article argues lie in the dynamics of affect. Building upon the International Relations affect and aesthetics literatures, this article develops the concept of soft power as rooted in the political dynamics of emotion and introduces the concept of affective investment. The attraction of soft power stems not only from its cultural influence or narrative construction, but more fundamentally from audiences’ affective investments in the images of identity that it produces. The empirical import of these ideas is offered in an analysis of the construction of American attraction in the war on terror.

For international relations (IR) scholars, the story behind the figure of Udjahorresnet might seem as an obscure phase in international history. Yet the pre-Roman period is educative for testing constitutive IR
concepts such as the balance of power theory, international system, or soft power, which are still widely assumed to have become relevant only in the post-Roman context rather than in the ancient civilizations of
the Eastern Mediterranean preceding the Greco-Roman experience. This article proposes that insights from IR theory can offer ancient historians and Egyptologists theoretical tools by linking empirical facts to patterns
rather than just unique events via conceptual analysis. Udjahorresnet as diplomatic figure is an important primary source to understand the transition of power from native Egyptian hands to the Achaemenid rule,
and thus it provides a case study where micro and macro levels of analyses find fertile ground in a cross-disciplinary framework.

Si la création des instituts Confucius est récente, elle est également souvent analysée avec méfiance par des observateurs craignant que, derrière les apparences du soft power, ne se cache une volonté de propagande. Cette méfiance mérite d'être interrogée : les instituts Confucius sont-ils vraiment des instituts linguistico-culturels comme les autres ?