«МАРКА ИСПАНИИ»: РАЗРАБОТКА ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЙ ПОЛИТИКИ ИСПАНИИ ПО РЕАЛИЗАЦИИ «МЯГКОЙ СИЛЫ»

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the concept of “soft power” in the foreign policy of the Kingdom of Spain. It analyzes the development of its national interpretation, the nature of Spanish “soft power” and the implementation of the “Marca Espana” state project in 2012–2018. The main objective of the project was creating an attractive image of the country in the world so as to provide the state with more influence in international relations. The particular attention is paid to the investigations of Spanish foreign policy by the research centers, which were involved in the theoretical and practical development of the project, mainly to the role of the Elcano Royal Institute. Within the framework of “Marca Espana”, some series of programmes were initialized in the analyzed period, and the public position of the High Commissioner for “Marca Espana” was created. His duties included coordinating the activities of governmental and non-governmental structures in order to assure maintenance of a positive national brand and its effective promotion in the world. As a result of the study, key successes achieved by the programme were identified, as well as the reasons for its replacement in 2018 with a new project named “Espana Global”. The authors conclude that despite a series of flaws, the project “Marca Espana” proved to be an important step towards improving the Spain’s national management system.