Source Of Soft Power Research Articles

BL Drama: The Thai Entertainment Industry as a Source of Soft Power

Boys Love, a subcategory originated in Japan in the 1970’s has swept the Thai entertainment industry. BL dramas has put Thailand on the map with an international recognition and appreciation through the portrayal of the country’s gender fluidity narrative and addressing relatable social question of the current generation. Observations can be made on the possibility of Thailand to use this newly found niche market as a source of soft power. Looking at the country’s other Asian neighbors as case study allows for a clear pattern to be observed through the use of the entertainment industry as a mean for cultural export, simultaneously establishing a sphere of influence that can be leverage on the diplomatic stage. This paper leverage the case study of South Korea and Japan as prime example of soft power through their respective entertainment industry. From the origin of the Boys Love and its success in Thailand to analysis of similar case studies in Japan and South Korea, this paper seeks to understand the feasibility of the BL genre becoming an asset positioning Thailand as a key player in the diplomatic arena both within Asia and the international community. The BL industry in Thailand has a significant potential of propelling the country on the international stage as a significant regional power. Yet, there are some major setbacks to be addressed for that concretization of this phenomenon.

Religious Conflict in Central African Republic

One of the challenges facing the world today is the issue of religious conflict. The consequences of the above are unimaginable for a land-locked country like Central African Republic (CAR). Conflicts there have led to the destruction of lives and properties in the last decades of the country's nationhood. There is a strong link between religion and violence, and this link has a long genealogy in Western scholarship. It is against this background that this research addresses the political and economic effects of the religious conflict in CAR. More than half of the respondents in this study agreed that the use of religion as an instrument to acquire political power led to the conflict in CAR. Since religion is a major source of soft power, it is used and misused by religious and governmental organizations to pursue their interests. Religion is not inherently violent; instead, it is how people choose to interpret religion that provides justification for violent actions. The study recommends that the government should emphasize the secularity and supremacy of the constitution and religious leaders should establish inter-faith platforms to curb religious crises.

The transformation of India's space policy: From space for development to the pursuit of security and prestige

This article explores the transformation of India's space policy from a focus on space for development to the pursuit of security and prestige. India's early space programme was largely defined by a developmental rationale, aimed at addressing socio-economic challenges through space technology and applications. However, in recent years, India's space policy has undergone a significant change, as the country tries to leverage its space capabilities for strategic objectives, including enhancing its national security, achieving greater status in the global space order, and projecting its great power aspirations. This article offers a comprehensive overview of India's space programme by highlighting the country's high-profile exploration projects, the involvement of the private sector, and the use of space technology as a foreign policy tool and a source of soft power. It also analyses changing perceptions of the country's strategic environment and evolving geopolitical dynamics that have resulted in a reorientation towards the military uses of space. It also assesses the implications of this transformation for India's space programme, its relations with other space actors, and the global governance of outer space.

Violence and Power of the Modern British Monarch

Violence and Power of the Modern British Monarch

Popular Leader as an Asset of Soft Power: The Ratings of National Leaders and their Countries Abroad

Abstract The original concept of soft power embraced the belief that culture, values and foreign policy practice are the basic resources upon which this type power is based. This article argues that popular national leaders can also – maybe even more so – be treated as soft power resources as their popularity and trustworthiness go hand in hand with the positive public opinion about their countries abroad. This hypothesis is tested against survey data collected from all over the globe by the U.S.-based polling institute Pew Research Center over the last two decades. The data shows a strong positive correlation between the public confidence in a leader and the view of their country abroad in almost every case that was examined. The view of a country among foreign audiences often changes with the change of its top leadership. The results of this reseach cast doubt on whether national culture and values rather than national leaders are the preeminent source of soft power of any given country in international politics.

National football leagues as a source of soft power

ABSTRACT This study seeks to determine if the development of a country’s national football league is significantly correlated with its soft power. Moreover, this research aims to provide a better understanding of the factors that contribute to the cultural soft power of a country besides sporting mega-events and develops a novel soft power managerial perspective. We first estimated the model using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and then applied the General Linear Model (GLM) to enhance the robustness of the analysis. The results suggest that investment in football development can powerfully influence soft power. The league’s cultural heritage and its talented players contribute more than the rest of the variables to increase the soft power score. Institutions and organisations from countries with relatively low soft power could still benefit from investment in football development. Finally, this study highlights the importance of the football industry and its historical heritage preservation as critical elements within a country’s soft power strategy.

The BBC and Soft Power at Home: Promoting Democracy Through The Archers

ABSTRACT Nations export cultural and political values through news and entertainment in attempts to wield “soft power” abroad. The BBC, long viewed as a source of the United Kingdom’s soft power internationally, also promotes democracy at home through its domestic programming. One overlooked source of soft power is the long-running radio drama The Archers. A content analysis of episodes that aired on or near 18 general elections and three referenda across seven decades reveals consistent themes about the importance of civic participation. Although political discourse today may have a cynical edge, voting remains a sacred act in the fictional village of Ambridge.

Culture as a tool for strengthening European identity

The role of culture in the process of Europeanization and supporting the formation of a European identity and a cohesive society has been emphasized by the European institutions since the 2000s. Today, the cultural policies of the EU aim to use culture as a source of soft power to enhance the degree of awareness of the European identity. The New European agenda for culture, the Creative Europe program, through the projects it assists, contributes to strengthening the European identity, providing support for the cultural and creative sectors in line with the priorities of the European Commission for a greener, more digital and more resilient Europe, for European democracy and the promotion of the European way of life. The objective of the European integration of the Republic of Moldova implies the support and implementation of the European cultural policies as a crucial element of strengthening social cohesion for the development of the sense of belonging to the European identity.

A microscale soft ionic power source modulates neuronal network activity

Bio-integrated devices need power sources to operate1,2. Despite widely used technologies that can provide power to large-scale targets, such as wired energy supplies from batteries or wireless energy transduction3, a need to efficiently stimulate cells and tissues on the microscale is still pressing. The ideal miniaturized power source should be biocompatible, mechanically flexible and able to generate an ionic current for biological stimulation, instead of using electron flow as in conventional electronic devices4–6. One approach is to use soft power sources inspired by the electrical eel7,8; however, power sources that combine the required capabilities have not yet been produced, because it is challenging to obtain miniaturized units that both conserve contained energy before usage and are easily triggered to produce an energy output. Here we develop a miniaturized soft power source by depositing lipid-supported networks of nanolitre hydrogel droplets that use internal ion gradients to generate energy. Compared to the original eel-inspired design7, our approach can shrink the volume of a power unit by more than 105-fold and it can store energy for longer than 24 h, enabling operation on-demand with a 680-fold greater power density of about 1,300 W m−3. Our droplet device can serve as a biocompatible and biological ionic current source to modulate neuronal network activity in three-dimensional neural microtissues and in ex vivo mouse brain slices. Ultimately, our soft microscale ionotronic device might be integrated into living organisms.

Can’t Buy Me Love (with Foreign Aid)

Abstract Does foreign aid improve the image of donors in recipient countries? Studies have found weak overall effects, but also positive correlations that are highly conditional on donor and recipient factors, like program characteristics and regime type. Our statistical and case study analysis of US foreign aid leads to a more skeptical perspective. We assess the impact of foreign aid on public opinion of the United States in twenty recipient countries during the Obama and Trump presidencies, using Pew Research Center survey data. A multi-level longitudinal analysis of individual and country-level variables finds that correlations between aid disbursements and foreign public opinion disappear when controlling for attitudes about the US president. These results are corroborated in crucial case studies of Kenya and Turkey. The findings are important for governments that use aid to influence foreign opinion and for scholarship that considers aid to be a source of soft power.

THE PILLARS OF SOFT POWER

Soft power remains a power that is not absolute and difficult to measure, and it has limits to what it wants to achieve. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring the impact of soft power pillars on the international and regional arena on other countries. It basically examined the sources and limits of soft power. The study summarized the sources of soft power in: culture, academic and scientific exchange, scholarships, publishing houses, artistic production, political values and foreign policy. Regarding the limits of soft power are: the nature of interactive, other party's opinion and stance, the targets, the environment, strategy and the dexterity in using soft power. The study concludes that it is not necessary for a country to enjoy all these resources and tools; what determines the sources of soft power is the way it is used and employed.

Soft Power in India’s Act East Policy: A Cambodian Perspective

In the contemporary multipolar world order, great powers are on the rise. As they possess coercive hard power, they also tend to have persuasive soft power in international relations. Soft power has become one of the most important dimensions of the foreign policies of great powers. Over the past decades, the use of soft power in the Asian context has gained significant traction. As an emerging power, India has begun to realise the usefulness of its rich culture and ancient civilisation as an indispensable source of soft power in the practice of public diplomacy. Specifically, New Delhi has utilised soft power in its Act East Policy (AEP) towards Southeast Asia, where historical connections and cultural legacy are deep between the two regions. In this context, the article examines the concept of soft power and its implications in India’s AEP. It argues that rather than asserting influence on the recipient country, India’s soft power is instrumental in building its international image as a benign power in international politics. The article looks at Cambodia as a case study to see how India’s international image has been perceived in the Southeast Asian kingdom, given that both countries share strong cultural and civilisational links.

THE BALKANS FROM THE OTTOMANS TO THE PRESENT: CULTURAL DIPLOMACY DISCOURSES OF TRT DOCUMENTARY

Cultural diplomacy is supported by the government to promote national interests. Thus, it plays an instrumental role in cultural diplomacy. In other words, culture is used as a source, of symbolic capital, and a source of soft power. Cultural diplomacy provides state actors with an appropriate starting point, by demonstrating cultural policy internationally. The most common source of soft power is culture, and it covers cultural literature, art, education, and popular culture called the mass pastime of today. Thus cultural diplomacy, which takes on a significant responsibility in building national identity and in the process of representation, contributes to the development and maintenance of modernity. This study discusses the contribution of cultural documentaries to the formation of image and reputation. This study aims to reveal the cultural diplomacy discourses in the documentaries made by TRT Belgesel. This study is also essential to reveal the discourses on cultural diplomacy activities in Balkan countries. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova, and Macedonia sections of the Traces and Lines documentary have been analyzed by discourse and content analysis methods in the Maxqda program. The analysis's findings are as follows: country promotion, Graffiti art, and TIKA activities. Explanations of cultural diplomacy are classified as traces of Turkish culture, the feeling, and cultural affinity, and the institutions opened by TIKA in these geographies, restoration activities, and donations. In documentaries, macro-discourse topics in terms of culture diplomacy include country promotions, Graffiti art, and TIKA activities. The country's religious structure and history are included in its promotion. The history of the country is associated with the Ottoman Empire's investments in the Balkans and with the cultural characteristics of the Turks living in those regions. Documentaries include the art of graffiti and the position of this art to reflect the cultural characteristics of countries. Artists emphasize the efforts of Turks living in the Balkans to maintain cultural values and the awareness to preserve the national values that thereby occur. In terms of micro-discourse, the documentaries include we, our, our Turks, and Türkiye words. Sentences are used in a simple structure, a simple language. Strategies for providing historical reference and exploiting personal experience in the documentary are persuasive. As a result; It creates discourses that will contribute positively to the image and reputation of the country by including cultural heritage protection and cultural diplomacy tools in the cultural documentaries of TRT Belgesel.

Religious tolerance in the Arab Gulf states: Christian organizations, soft power, and the politics of sustaining the “family–state” beyond the rentier model

Abstract The states of the Arabian Gulf present a novel case for the examination of relations between authoritarian governance and Christian organizations. The economic clout of the Gulf states has been central to political stability and legitimacy but they are increasingly seeking to expand and consolidate the soft power and resilience through political and diplomatic initiatives. This article examines how the Christian organizations established in recent decades by large migrant communities are incorporated into this strategy and how they are responding. It argues that religious tolerance has formed a central discourse in governmental policies and narratives that construct the Gulf states as modern progressive nations, despite their unique political systems based mainly on constitutional monarchies with limited political participation. This constructs local Christian communities as a source of soft power, despite their position as a religious minority.

Winning Hearts and Minds: Soft Power, Cinema, and Public Perceptions of the United States and China in Brazil

Abstract In this article, we explore the relationship between soft power projection and public opinion, specifically investigating how cinema as a soft power resource can shape people's positive perceptions about a country. While soft power has been defined as a form of persuasive power associated with intangible resources such as culture, ideology, and institutions, the link between these resources and public opinion has received limited attention in previous research. This study aims to fill this gap by using the film industry as a proxy for soft power projection. We compare the United States’ and China's soft power sources and projections through an online survey with 908 participants in Brazil. Our findings indicate that exposure to soft power via films can shape people's positive perceptions of countries. However, some dimensions of soft power appear to be more challenging to activate than others, such as patriotic films’ association with admiration for US military power. The study also discovered that soft power activation may be context dependent, with greater knowledge of a country's soft power resources in a particular context leading to increased soft power projection/activation. We contribute to research by empirically expanding our understanding of soft power dynamics and how power resources can be converted into public opinion in world politics.

Narratives of Public Diplomacy in the post-Truth Era: The decline of Soft Power

This article aims to build a better understanding of today’s communicative changes of public diplomacy in the post-truth era. Today, our communication environment has changed compared to decades ago: about 5 billion people communicate online and compete among themselves through their social media narratives, which are the main platform for the distribution of fake news in the post-truth era. The question posed here is: what are the winning narratives in the complex global environment of public diplomacy? Through problematizing review, this article analyses the sources of soft power which were described at the end of the Cold War, and which remain effective even in today’s communication environment. Also, the purpose and influence of public diplomacy has been problematized, analysing how to influence foreign government by influencing its citizens. The paper concludes that the values of soft power described three decades ago only have limited and specific effects on non-European publics, but not on European ones. Additionally, it is impossible to influence European governments by influencing their publics through public diplomacy because the context has changed and the values of soft power in these countries no longer have the former distinctive gap between them.

Differentiated Ionic Electroresponse of Asymmetric Bio‐Hydrogels with Unremitting Power Output

AbstractCytomembranes with efficient ionic selectivity and energy circulation, essential for biological activities in multicellular organisms, are a source of inspiration for man‐made biomedical devices. However, current man‐made soft systems mainly imitate simple and passive cytomembranes behaviors, restrained by the grand challenge that lies at the meeting point of synchronous engineering of both (dynamic) ionic selectivity and (passive) transcellular‐like potential in one structure. Here a dynamically differentiated ionic electroresponse and passive incessant power output of an asymmetric bio‐hydrogel constructed using a simple self‐propagative flow approach are reported. The unprecedented freely formed p and n analogue hydrogels yield a transcellular‐like potential (110–200 mV) in response to diverse stimuli—where the cathode or anode is capable of perceivable electroresponse to water and/or salt media, respectively. A single hydrogel can generate an output power density of 135–190 mW m−2 superior to most bio‐inspired soft and/or green power sources. The scalable manufacturing and proof‐of‐concept demonstration elucidate the feasibility of mobilizing passive and dynamic behaviors in one structure. This work has the potential for realizing high‐performance soft power sources in parallel to electrostimulation for neural excitation/inhibition, extending into the previously inaccessible region of biomedical applications.

Role of Soft Power in India’s Foreign Policy

The article focuses on power and its ramifications which has always been the central point in all security studies in international relations. Power is a crucial element of international relations that influences world affairs. As a result, power plays a significant role in foreign policy formulation. Realism is the dominant theory of international relations, and it revolves around the concept of power. Power can come in a variety of forms and implies the capacity to influence others to do what one wants. There are two types of power: hard power and soft power. These two types of power influence international politics, security, economy, and foreign policy. Whereas hard power derives from a country’s military or economic might, soft power derives from the attractiveness of its culture, political ideals, and policies. In international relations, soft power is just as important as hard power. This paper argues that soft power is one dimension of power that refers to one’s ability to persuade others to do something. Different countries place a high value on soft power in today’s international politics. In international relations, the concept of soft power discourse emerged in the early 1990s. This article also argues that foreign policy of a country consists of self-interest strategies. It contains a general objective that guides the activities and relationship of one state in its interaction with other states. This paper intends to explain and analyze India’s foreign policy on the ideas of friendly relations, international cooperation, and peaceful coexistence among all nations, regardless of their political systems. Maintaining national security, advancing democracy, fostering world peace, providing aid, and establishing open trade are the main objectives of India’s foreign policy. The purpose of this paper is to theorize the dynamics of soft power in international relations and to analyze India’s soft power potential. In recent years soft power has become an important tool for governments to achieve their foreign policy goals. India, a country with rich sources of soft power, has made great efforts to use this capacity to achieve its foreign policy goals. Among Indian leaders Narendra Modi has paid considerable attention to the capacity of soft power in India’s foreign policy.

Brazilian Biodiversity as a Source of Power and Sustainable Development: A Neglected Opportunity

Six terrestrial biomes and a huge coastline make Brazil one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. However, the potential of Brazilian biodiversity as a valuable and sustainable source of wealth and development is still neglected. In order to reverse this scenario, the country needs to recognize and assume the power of its biodiversity, focusing on (I) industry, science and technology, (II) biological conservation and maintenance of ecosystem services, considering reverberations on agriculture and public health, and (III) ecotourism, conservation and sustainable development of local populations. The joint action of the Brazilian population and scientific community is needed to achieve these goals, which must be translated into the election of politicians committed to sustainable development and an increase in research and technology based on Brazilian biodiversity. Additional reasons for preserving Brazilian biodiversity (e.g., intrinsic, cultural, and ethical values) are also addressed in this article. Finally, we argue that Brazil should recover its global leadership on the environmental agenda and assume its biological diversity as a source of Soft Power, as well as develop its neglected capacity in the field of the sustainable bio-based economy (bioeconomy). In brief, Brazil needs to recognize and embrace the power of its biodiversity.

Global perspectives on European Union public diplomacy: an introduction

ABSTRACT Public diplomacy has become increasingly important for countries around the world as a source of soft power. However, we still know very little about how international and supranational actors conduct public diplomacy. This Special Issue therefore looks at the public diplomacy of the European Union (EU) as a contribution to filling this research gap. Unlike existing research that has primarily focused on the institutional design and content of EU public diplomacy, the authors in this Special Issue examine the receptiveness of different countries and regions of the world to this specific type of diplomacy. Their key research findings are, firstly, an observed variation in the receptiveness of countries to EU public diplomacy, which correlates with the receiving country or region’s social, economic and political context and past and contemporary experiences with the EU; secondly, a need for EU public diplomacy to be flexible in its application; and thirdly, a need for more extensive research on the effectiveness of EU public diplomacy.