State Power, Soft Power, Hard Power

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.

This is a rather intriguing work that doesn't deliver on its promise of espionage and state power in the information age. And while the structure of this thin volume touches upon all the important topics (COIN and covert action, conventional and irregular warfare, and the principals and agents that make up them all), it is hard to ignore what the author himself calls the 'entirely ineffective conclusion.' The author offers the argument that the liberal tradition has deemphasized espionage as a dark endeavor not becoming of the human existence. But that is the liberal academic tradition. It is not the tradition in formal Intelligence Studies, which this book on intelligence oddly works around but not with. He also holds a threshold for 'analysis' that is unrealistic. Any system of intelligence that has 100% reliability and forecasting as the goal is a fantasy. Intelligence can 'fail' and still overall be highly effective. Finally, offering up the idea that the key to power is a 'standard of goodness or badness beyond the results , rather than obtaining knowledge,' is not only difficult to comprehend, it borders on being a platitude.

Article: The Middle East remains of a major geostrategic importance. Global powers found in the recent developments an opportunity to chart their way into the region; sending troops and reinforcements, rebuilding alliances and restoring old relations. Amidst this chaotic environment, a number of regional forces opted to adopt a different approach: soft power. It is obvious that such forces have found in soft power an efficient tool that can achieve what tanks and jets failed to do. In this article, four soft power models in the Middle East are assessed and analysed: Turkey, Iran, Qatar and Oman.

In December 2008, the EU launched its new program "Eastern Partnership" (EaP) as a continuation of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), which due to the extensiveness of the EU's borders does not allow full commitment to the countries of the eastern neighborhood. The main agenda of the program is to stabilize and democratize countries through a deeper and more substantial link with the EU. The program includes association agreements, creation of a deep and comprehensive free trade area, training for administration and civil society, financial assistance, visa liberalization, but not the strongest instrument of EU foreign policy, which is the enlargement policy for entry into the Union. Through these "soft power" foreign policy instruments the expectations are that the countries will achieve rule of law, democracy and respect for human rights, as well as high standards in the economy and institutions. For the situation to be even more complex, there are frozen conflicts in many of the countries where the EU should play a role in the reconciliation and preservation of the sovereignty of the states.
The paper will review the mechanisms available to the Union in the "Eastern Partnership", its attempts to resolve conflicts, and the potential for enlargement in the countries of the East. For the presentation of this foreign policy of EU, we will be guided through the theoretical prism of realism and its concepts to measure or put into context the effects on frozen conflicts in the countries.
The main goal will be to answer the question what is the effect and success of EU foreign policy in resolving frozen conflicts in the countries of the "Eastern Partnership" through the prism of realism? Does the foreign policy so far have the capacity to overcome obstacles and achieve its underlying goals? Can the basic concepts of realism be transformed by liberal concepts and constructivist visions of international relations in the countries from this region?
The basic guides of realism and neo-realism clearly identify the need for "hard power politics" as the primary instance in resolving and transforming conflicts as a catalyst and instrument for change to the desired direction from the big players. The main hypothesis that will guide the structure of this thesis is that the absence of hard power politics and the changing and vague attitudes of EU’s foreign policy are the main reason for the failure to resolve frozen conflicts in the countries of the "Eastern Partnership".
All countries covered by the program differ and bear their own specific characteristics. Every country has problems with non-democratic and non-liberal practices that are the remnants of the previous system. This means that everyone has a difficult and long-lasting transition process. Many of them have unresolved conflicts and divided societies. Some have an open desire to join the Union and are in a long waiting period to open their negotiations. While the Union has variable attitudes towards the enlargement process and sends mixed signals and does not provide enough stimulation to transform countries with clear and firm stances in their foreign policy.
Lastly, there is Russia, which has its influence and interests in the countries covered by this program. Realism and neo-realism are not sufficiently included in the academic circles to describe the functioning of the EU, but Russia's intensified policy towards its neighbors and the poor efficiency of the Union's underlined objectives are sufficient justification to consider the impact of this theory in this new context. Also, to give some insights on some of the new components needed to resolve the status of these countries because the situation and geographical proximity with Russia is very different than with the big enlargement in Central and Eastern Europe in the past.
The work will be processed through the methodology of a critical approach by interpreting the sources and arguments guided by the theoretical framework of realism and neo-realism. As with the comparative method in the argumentation of the EU's success with the countries of the region.

Gücü anlamak ve idare etmek ve günümüze ne şekilde ayak uydurduğunu anlamak için gücü etkileyen faktörlerin, uluslararası sisteme uygun titizlikle araştırılması gerekmektedir. Gücü etkileyen faktörlerin ne kadar çok ve etkili olduğu yapılan araştırmalar sonucu net bir şekilde görülmüştür, bununla birlikte bir çok güç türü ortaya çıkmıştır. Güç unsurlarını geniş bir çerçevede ele almak, devletlerin politik amaçlarla kullandığı yöntemleri anlamamıza daha iyi yardımcı olacaktır. Bu araştırmada güç türlerini, unsurlarını ve etkileyen faktörleri ele alıp, bu türlerden yumuşak güç türüne eğilim göstereceğiz. Devlet ilişkilerinde genellikle sert güç kullanımını görmekteyiz. Sert güç, genellikle zorlama veya tehditten oluşmaktadır. İlk çağlardan beri kullanılan bu güç türü, istediğini almak isteyen aktörlerin başvurduğu yolların başında gelmektedir. Zamanla uluslararası sistemdeki güç anlayışının değişmesi ve sert gücün yarattığı sorunlar, aktörleri yeni bir güç arayışına itmiştir. Yumuşak güç, sert gücün sorunlarını ortaya çıkarmadan aktörlerin istediklerini alabilme kabiliyetinin oluşturulduğu güç türüdür. Yumuşak güç kaynağını bulunduğu bölgenin kültürü, siyasi değerleri ve dış politikalarından alır.
Yumuşak gücü en yoğun şekilde etkileyen faktörlerden biri medyadır. Bu güç türünün en büyük yardımcısı reklamdır. Yani gücü uygulayan aktör, kendisinin iyi yönlerini lanse etmek isteyecektir. Bunu tanıtım yoluyla sağlamaktadır. Ne kadar etkili ve sistemli olursa, o kadar iyi sonuçlar alabilmesi mümkündür. Aktörlerin istediğini elde edebilmesi adına, yumuşak gücün argümanlarını geliştirmesi ve farklı argümanlara başvurması kaçınılmazdır. Medyanın bir kolu olan sinema, yumuşak gücün geliştirilmesi konusuna büyük katkı sağlamaktadır. Sinema sektörünü geliştiren ve iyi bir şekilde dünyaya sergileyen devletler, yumuşak gücü uygulama konusunda diğer devletlerden bir adım öndedirler. Yumuşak güç ve sinema arasındaki ilişki, birbirlerini besleyerek büyüyen bir yapıya sahiptir. Bu çalışmada bu ikilinin devletler üzerindeki etkilerini araştıracağız. Günümüz dünyasında sinemanın politikaya etkilerini açıkça görmekteyiz. Bu çerçevede yumuşak gücü ve sinemayı politika üzerinden incelemek, devletlerin birbirleri üzerindeki etkilerine farklı bir bakış açısından yorumlamaya yardımcı olacaktır.

-pag. 4 INTRODUZIONE CAP. 1 IL POTERE (pag.7) -pag. 9 Che cos'è il potere? -pag. 11 Chi lo detiene, chi lo perde? -pag. 12 Status quo vs. revisionisti e rivoluzionari CAP. 2 IL POTERE MILITARE (pag.14) -pag. 16 Spese militari -pag. 17 Spese militari Usa vs. Imperi passati -pag. 18 Armi nucleari -pag. 19 Potenza terrestre Potenza marittima vs. aerea Potenza sui mari -pag. 21 Portaerei e sottomarini nucleari -pag. 22 Potenza aerea -pag. 23 Enablers -pag. 25 Un impero di basi Quante basi nel mondo? -pag. 26 Gli alleati della Russia CAP. 3 IL POTERE ECONOMICO (pag.31) -pag. 32 Prodotto interno lordo -pag. 34 Reddito pro capite -pag. 36 Riserve valutarie -pag. 37 Bilancia delle partite correnti -pag. 38 Pil reale nel tempo: chi vince, chi perde? -pag. 42 BREVE STORIA DELL'ASCESA AMERICANA -pag. 43 MODELLO DI SVILUPPO CINESE: IL MODERNITARIANISMO -pag. 44 "Tigri" e crescita spettacolare guidata dalle esportazioni -pag. 45 Tigri, strategia e ingredienti per il "successo" -pag. 46 Il percorso classico delle tigri -pag. 48 Limiti intrinseci al "modernitarianismo" -pag. 49 Differenze e vantaggi cinesi rispetto alle "tigri asiatiche" -pag. 51 Le debolezze del capitalismo di Stato cinese -pag. 54 MODELLO DI SVILUPPO RUSSO: UNA FASE DI TRANSIZIONE -pag. 60 Dall'export energetico all' "import substitution industrialization" -pag. 61 Le misure finora intraprese -pag. 62 Nuova politica economica ed ostacoli strutturali -pag. 63 Stato e oligarchia -pag. 64 L'Unione Economica Eurasiatica -pag. 69 Gli oligarchi russi CAP. 4 IL SOFT POWER (pag.71) -pag. 74 Soft power e sistema internazionale -pag. 78 Stati Uniti: un "Impero liberale" -pag. 84 Russia: "guerra ibrida" e "crisi d'identità" -pag. 90 Cina: "peaceful rise" e "dilemma liberalizzazione-repressione" CAP.5 ALTRI FATTORI NEL LUNGO PERIODO (pag. 100) -pag. 101 DEMOGRAFIA E IMMIGRAZIONE -pag. 104 ISTRUZIONE E RICERCA Spese per l'istruzione -pag. 105 Università -pag. 106 Ricerca e sviluppo -pag. 107 Citazioni accademiche Brevetti -pag. 109 CONCLUSIONI -pag. 114 BIBLIOGRAFIA INTRODUZIONE Qualunque analisi volta ad analizzare le dinamiche relazionali di un sistema umano, si concentra su una variabile cruciale: il potere. O per essere più precisi i poteri.

The annexation of Crimea is not an ordinary event in contemporary international relations. Since WWII, there has been no precedent in Europe when one state under dubious premises has forcefully annexed a part of another state. This article scrutinizes the Crimean case in the context of the ongoing Ukrainian crisis and uncovers the rationale behind Russia’s aggressive policies in the Black Sea Region. To accomplish this task, several steps have been undertaken. Primarily, the recent speeches of Russian officials and Kremlin-originated documents have been analyzed. Secondly, the tactics favored by the Kremlin to achieve its geopolitical goals have been explained and assessed (through applying frameworks of meta-geography and soft power security). Thirdly, the future prospects for Crimea with its gradual transformation in the counter-NATO fortress have been outlined.

Upadek ładu bilateralnego spowodował powstanie wyraźnych luk w światowym systemie bezpieczeństwa, przez co uzewnętrzniły się dotkliwe problemy asymetryczne, z którymi to powinny się uporać państwa narodowe, czyli podstawowi uczestnicy stosunków międzynarodowych. Dlatego też w obecnym dyskursie nauk o stosunkach międzynarodowych popularność zyskuje temat wojen hybrydowych, co jest dodatkowo motywowane przez próbę wyjaśnienia tego, co, dzieje się w konflikt na wschodzie Ukrainy. Warto zatem przeanalizować temat hybrydyzacji wojny, czyli podstawowej zmiennej w stosunkach międzynarodowych. Ponadto, należało przy tym opisać radykalne zmiany całego porządku światowego, w którym to na znaczeniu zyskują konfliktu pomiędzy różnorodnymi podmiotami politycznymi, a nie tylko państwami narodowymi. Aspektem związanym z tym jest również ewolucja wielowymiarowych instrumentów polityki zagranicznej, które są konieczne dla ochrony własnej racji stanu.

1. The whole phenomenon of soft power had gained fame in International Relations in last two decades during which the structure of global power began to transform. The whole idea of “soft power” was first coined by Harvard University Professor Joseph Nye in his book, “Bound to Lead: the changing nature of American Power”, which was published in 1990. He proposed limitless theories to define the term soft power and its application. He initially defines the term soft power as:

“The ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payment”

Edited version of published paper presented at 'Is Black and Red Dead?' Conference, Centre for the Study of Social and Global and Justice (CSSGJ) University of Nottingham, 7-8 September, 2009

https://socialhistoryportal.org/news/articles/110943

This article examines the openly adversarial neoconservative foundation under George Bush to the supposedly more ‘engaged’ diplomatic interaction under Barack Obama. What will be exposed is a fairly uninspired and non-innovative American policy that not only fails to consider Russian initiatives from Russia’s own national security perspectives, but aims to contain it within a continued Cold War box that not only sours opportunities for collaboration but guarantees the absence of partnership in areas of global security. This piece examines the consequences of imagining Russia only as nemesis.

This paper is about an analysis of whom will be the next Global Power country. The content is explaining about the differences of hard and soft power of the United States and China. At the end, there will be an analysis of who will be the next Global Power.

This article deals with foreign policy activities of Jordan as a small state with a special focus on the Middle Eastern region.  The essay focuses on impacts of Jordan´s “smallness” and lack of power capabilities on its foreign policy, its relations not only with other states in the Middle East, but also with extra-regional powers such as the United States, its behaviour within regional organizations and during regional conflicts and its economic and military dependence on other (stronger) states. This essay provides a critique of existing concepts and dominant criteria of small states and, subsequently, new conceptual framework for analysing foreign policy behaviour of small states. On its basis, the essay explains particular foreign policy activities of Jordan in the light of its “smallness” or lack of (hard) power capabilities, respectively.

1990 sonrasındaki dönemde Amerikalı siyaset bilimci Joseph
Nye, uluslararası alanda güçlü sayılabilmek için askeri ve ekonomik
gücü içeren sert gücün yanında kültür, değerler ve politikaların da
gerekli olduğunu açıklamış ve “yumuşak güç” kavramını ortaya
atmıştır. Yeni uluslararası sistemde bölgesel-alt sistemler görünür hale
gelmiş, Balkanlar hem bu anlamda hem de bünyesinde artan etnik ve
dini çatışmalar anlamında önemli bir bölge haline gelmiştir. Bu
anlamda kırılgan bir yapıda olan Balkanlar, ekonominin ve
demokrasinin geliştirilmesi açısından hem ekonomik güce hem de
yumuşak güce sahip bir aktöre ihtiyaç duymaktadır. Yumuşak güç
anlamında Balkan bölgesinde, sınır komşusu olan Türkiye ve bir
demokrasi temsilcisi olarak Avrupa Birliği etkin hale gelmiştir. Bu
çalışmada Türkiye ve AB’nin Balkanlar’daki yumuşak güç
faaliyetleri, Joseph Nye’ın ABD üzerinden açıkladığı bu kavram
perspektifinden incelenecektir.

Analyzing President Obama's foreign policy and its global impact is no easy task. The early presidency of Obama has been marked by vicious attacks from the right, deep disappointment from the left, and something like indifference from the international community. This is understandable when the main argument is entertained: the expectations of Obama's global positions have not met reality mainly because they are more closely aligned with a cautious and considered 'true' conservatism, something no side (left, right, international) anticipated. The consequences of this becomes more than just about election results but has significant potential influence on the fundamental debates between soft and hard power. . He is the author of two well-received books and over half a dozen articles on the problems in promoting democracy and fighting terrorism. He has worked on projects involving the intelligence communities from over a dozen countries and actively seeks to promote leadership cooperation across these communities. Barack Obama…will restore America's standing in the world by providing a new American leadership to meet the challenges of a new century…Barack Obama…will reverse this perception of American arrogance and obstructionism. 1 Analyzing President Obama's foreign policy, or rather, analyzing the intellectual and positional evolution of his global positions is no easy task. It would not be hyperbole to say Obama came into office with the hopes and dreams of millions of Democrats and perhaps even the muted optimism of many moderate Republicans. In other words, hitting everything right on the mark was likely impossible. This only makes the present analysis more interesting, for the early presidency of Obama has been marked by vicious attacks from the right, deep disappointment from the left and relative indifference from the international community. This negativity is more understandable when the main argument here is entertained: expectations have not been met in terms of foreign policy because Obama's positions have more closely aligned with what some might call 'true' conservatism, something no side foresaw in 2008.

This article provides a conceptual and empirical review of power analysis in International Relations. The main objective of this article is to bridge the gap between conceptual and empirical research on power. First, it reviews various definitions of power by focusing specifically on International Relations literature. Second, it identifies and illustrates key measurement issues concerning the national power capacities of major powers. In this article, the Composite Index of National Capabilities for 20 countries for the period between 1991 and 2012 is used to demonstrate the change in power distribution among major powers. Lastly, it introduces diplomatic representation and war proneness as two new variables that enhance the empirical analysis of power by adding a relational dimension while working with tangible and quantifiable data. These two variables are both indicators and sources of national
power. The article concludes by suggesting that diplomatic representation, and war proneness of countries, should be taken into consideration analytically if one wants to comprehend the dynamics and effects of power distribution among the most powerful countries in today’s world.

The IUP Journal of International Relations, Vol. V, No. 3, July 2011, pp. 35-52

Historically, transatlantic relations have been formulated under specific systemic circumstances with the aim of dealing with a distinctive military threat. Through a Realist perspective, this paper looks into the structural limits of equal partnership of a strategic partnership between a hard and a soft power. By conceptualizing actual, material and cognitive, elements of power through a differentiated descriptive and prescriptive spectrum and their relative effectiveness in a state-centric, anarchic and antagonistic international system, the paper, overtly or covertly, makes the distinction between instrumental and elemental power, as well as their importance in forming and successfully advancing images of world order within a strategic partnership and their respective persuasive credibility.

В статье анализируются идеологические основания возможного будущего политического сближения
евразийских партнеров и создания полноценного политического союза в Евразийском регионе. Отмечается,
что моделирование российским руководством политического диалога между партнерами по евразийской
интеграции является частью российской внешнеполитической стратегии по укреплению влияния в регионе.
В официальных внешнеполитических документах данная стратегия обозначена в качестве политики «мягкой
силы». Приводится ряд принятых Правительством РФ документов, в которых закреплено значение инструментов «мягкой силы» во внешнеполитической стратегии России в XXI в. и которые предусматривают практические шаги по воплощению российской модели «мягкой силы» в жизнь. В качестве нарратива внешней
политики, являющегося ключевым для успеха стратегии «мягкой силы», Россией была выбрана идеология
консерватизма и защиты ценностей традиционного общества. Именно консервативные ценности сегодня
являются объединяющей аксиологической парадигмой для евразийской интеграции.

The article provides an insight about ideological basis for prospective political integration of
Eurasian partners and creation of authentic political union in Eurasia. As authors state, Russia has developed
its own influence strategies in Eurasia and construction of political dialogue with Eurasian partners appears
as an important part of it. This strategy is explained in Russian official documents in the framework of the
soft power conception. Authors cite recent official documents adopted by Russian government confirming
the importance of soft power instruments in current Russian foreign policy and setting out practical steps.
Authors suggest that Russia has filled its soft power strategy with a conservative narrative defending traditional
values. Current political trends demonstrate that conservatism can become a consolidating value’s platform
for Eurasian partners.

The article deals with the delimitation of regional powers in the Middle East. Its aim is to introduce the concept of regional power and to offer a new way of measuring and comparing the power of this type of states. It also aims at discovering which states of the Middle East could be considered as regional powers from 1945 until 2007. The text shows how material capabilities are distributed within the region and it closely focuses on strongest states – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey. In their case, the article describes if they are able to influence other actors within the region, if they have ambitions to become the regional leader, if their power status has been recognized by other actors and thus are the Middle East regional powers.

Abstract- India has used its own potentials and capabilities in terms of culture, religion, economy and politics since Indu-Nimna civilization as means of its soft power. Even though India has successfully applied its soft power within the region; she has not successfully extent its power beyond the region to encompass other states in the world. On the other hand the United States of America (USA) has succeeded to embrace the world although they have a more brief history and un-unique history compared with India. In fact, it is obvious that soft power of the United States is being used throughout the world since the independence concurrently with comprehensive understanding of the current phenomena. Therefore, the main intention of this research paper is to investigate reasons and challenges of India being unable to become a hegemonic power in the world. Apart from that, this anticipates to analyze the practice of American soft power as a successful bench mark according to Joseph Nye’s view as a comparative study together with India.

Canada has long been regarded as a middle power in international politics.  During the Cold War, it not only contributed to the UN peacekeeping missions but also acted as a mediator or conciliator to promote international peace.  Since the end of the Cold War, the world has changed from bipolarity (the United States and Soviet Union) to unipolarity with the United States hegemony.  The unipolar world has created less space for a middle power like Canada to exert its influence in the international politics. 
Under these circumstances, Canada has increased its focus towards NATO, engaging in a number of NATO missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Libya and Afghanistan. Given the substantial commitments from Canada to the Afghan mission (ISAF) and NATO, it is worth studying how much influence Canada has at NATO especially after ISAF.
Based on Barry Buzan’s security studies approach, the author establishes an integrated framework to analyse the Canadian engagement in the NATO’s operation in Afghanistan by developing constructivist and realist arguments for projecting Canada’s soft and hard powers to Afghanistan and the world.  Realist arguments are concerned with material benefits such as economic and geopolitical interests associated with an alignment with the United States interests while constructivist arguments are about the preservation and promotion of the normative ideas of Canada such as democracy and human rights, improving Canada’s image and standing in the world.
However, these powers cannot be converted into a strong degree of influence at NATO especially at agenda-setting and decision-making stages inside the alliance.  A strong emphasis on soft power is also highlighted as it allows a more efficient use of hard power. The writer further argues that Canada needs a complete overhaul of its foreign policies and an effective defense policy to close the capability gaps without increasing military spending.

ACCORDING TO REALIST PERSPECTIVE IN THE STUDY
OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, DISTRIBUTION OF
POWER AMONG NATIONS IS ONE OF THE KEY FEATURES
DEFINING THE CHARACTER AND CONFIGURATION
OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM. REGARDLESS OF
THE THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE ONE EMPLOYS,
IT IS UNDISPUTABLE THAT MATERIAL RESOURCES
(TERRITORIAL, DEMOGRAPHIC, ECONOMIC OR
MILITARY) AVAILABLE TO MAJOR POWERS ARE
AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN EVERY ANALYSIS OF
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. AS THE INTERNATIONAL
SYSTEM UNDERGOES A SIGNIFICANT SHIFT OF POWER
(GENERALLY TO THE ADVANTAGE OF THE SO-CALLED
BRICS COUNTRIES) THE AUTHORS FOUND IT USEFUL
TO PROPOSE A FORECAST OF A GLOBAL POWER
RANKING IN A TEN YEARS PERSPECTIVE. IT EMPLOYS
A MODIFIED CLINE’S FORMULA OF NATIONAL POWER
IN ORDER TO ASSESS THE MATERIAL POTENTIAL OF
PROSPECTIVE GLOBAL POWERS IN 2025. THE AIM IS
BY NO MEANS TO AUTHORITATIVELY PREDICT THE
FUTURE DISTRIBUTION OF POWER IN THE INTERNATIONAL
SYSTEM. THE AUTHORS PREFER TO EMPLOY THE
“R/EVOLUTIONS’” FORECASTING METHOD TO IDENTIFY
AND EXPLAIN KEY TRENDS, WHICH WILL SHAPE THE
GLOBAL PECKING ORDER OF THE NEXT DECADE.

This book chapter investigates the influence of the Beijing-based Global Times (a conservative tabloid daily newspaper) on China's public diplomacy. It argues that the recent rise of the newspaper represents a crucial strategic change in China's public diplomacy. The case of the Global Times also illustrates that public diplomacy should not be understood narrowly as just selling government-directed, one-dimensional, positive national image to the rest of the world. It should also mean vigorous international dialogue, communication and debate between different players and from different perspectives. And public diplomacy does have a significant domestic dimension as well.

Garland, C. (2014) ‘As Barriers Fall, Contingency Becomes Possibility: Protest Resisting and Escaping Containment and Categorization’, Part II Identity, Embodiment and Categorisation in Eds. Lamond, I. and Spracklen, K. 'Protests as Events: Politics, Activism and Leisure (London: Rowman & Littlefield International) Hardback ISBN/9781783480760 Paperback ISBN/978-1-78348-077-7 eBook ISBN/978-1-78348-078-4 

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781783480760

Brazil’s rapprochement with Africa during the last decade has been mostly explained as an attempt to improve political dialogue, raise economic interactions, and provide technical cooperation assistance. This article, however, argues that such framework does not sufficiently account for the use of Brazilian material resources in order to attain harder strategic goals towards the continent. By focusing on defense cooperation ties, it highlights an important niche in South- South relations that has also grown exponentially, with important consequences on how Brazil exerts power across the Atlantic.

El concepto de seguridad humana de Thomas Hobbes, describe con claridad las atribuciones de la autoridad política y militar para garantizar la vida pacifica del individuo. Sin embargo esa pacificación se presenta más como un acuerdo necesario, que como un proceso consensual de cooperación. Del mismo modo, la lógica social que presenta el autor del Leviatán puede extrapolarse al Sistema Internacional contemporáneo y ejemplifica las condiciones que propiciaron al ascenso de la autoridad derivada de la Pax Americana en la segunda mitad del Siglo XX. La presente investigación procurará analizar la influencia de la seguridad concebida por Hobbes, en la institucionalidad que respalda al orden pacifista promovido por los Estados Unidos a partir de su campaña hegemónica.

The article deals with “hard” and “soft” elements of Iran’s contemporary anti-terrorism approach. The authors state that fighting against terrorism today demands a comprehensive approach, and though force-based approach has always prevailed over “soft” tools in realization of anti-terrorist strategies of states, in modern world realities without a psycho-ideological component combating terrorism does not seem to succeed. A balanced universal model of using these two components does not exist, as everything in this context depends on specifics of a country or a region. But the need for considering “soft” aspects becomes more relevant.Iran is an active player in combating international terrorism, though it does not have a unified document or specific strategy with defined “hard” and “soft” tools of anti-terrorism fight. The force-based element of Iran’s counter-terrorism approach at the present stage obviously prevails over the non-power-based. The country’s active military involvement in solution of the Syrian crisis, supporting military groups, which fight against radical element in the region and tough policy towards drug traffic is an important source of income for extremist factions, proves the matter.“Hard power” approach in fighting against terrorism leads to physical extermination of terrorists, however, consideration of the survival of their ideas in modern info-communications century reveals the significance of the issue of “soft” instrument use in anti-terrorism strategy. In fight against terrorism in this dimension, Iran resorts to “soft power” and public diplomacy. The cultural, religious and scientific potentials as well as educational institutes and information resources are actively utilized to construct a correct understanding of Islam and its positive image, to delegitimate and deconstruct narratives of radical Islamists.

Key words: terrorism, religious extremism, fight against terrorism, counter-terrorism instruments, “soft power” and public diplomacy, Iran’s anti-terrorism approach, “soft power” in combatting terrorism, public diplomacy in fight against terrorism, soft power of Iran, public diplomacy of Iran

Abstract Background:
Qatar Charity is seeking to develop and upgrade its communication strategy not only in Qatar but, all over the world especially at the era of the Arab revolution (Tunisia- Egypt - Syria- Yemen- Libya). The role of Qatar Charity in relief activities presented a model of how the humanitarian organization is supposed to be. This requires knowing the features of the current image. So, this research examined the image of Qatar charity among the Qatari society and how the Qatari public, residents and beneficiaries perceive the organization. In addition the study evaluated the perception and image of Qatar Charity for the beneficiaries in Asia, Africa and Europe. The study is trying to answer the following questions: What communication tools are frequently used? What are the main components of communication strategy? What about the situational analysis of this communication strategy? (Strengths - weaknesses - opportunities). Objective: The study seeks to enhance the efforts to reshape and reposition Qatar charity as a model of NGO worldwide. Method: The study will be descriptive with data gathered via a questionnaire aimed for all groups in the Qatari society and external sectors that we are serving. We will depend on 800 random sample respondents as follows: 250 in Qatar and 550 outside Qatar as follows: 150 Africa sector 150 Asia sector 250 Europe sector.

Would countries with stronger institutions and governance lead to less or more hard power? This article empirically analyzes this issue and corroborates the idea that countries with stronger institutions and good governance have a lower level of hard power, with it being understood here that hard power is basically symbolized by military spending. For this purpose, we used the World Bank's database of World Governance Indicators and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's (SIPRI) database for military spending, for a group of 153 countries. Estimates point to this relationship with some robustness through instrumental variable techniques, identifying, for example, that increased voice and accountability in countries would lead to lower military spending. Robustness tests using the cointegration technique corroborate the idea that more democracy leads to less hard power. Resumo Os países com instituições e governança mais fortes levariam a menos ou mais hard power? Este artigo analisa empiricamente essa questão e corrobora a ideia de que países com instituições mais fortes e boa governança levam a um menor hard power, entendendo-se aqui que hard power é basicamente simbolizado pelo gasto militar. Para isso, utilizamos a base de dados do World Governance Indicators, do Banco Mundial, e do Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), para gastos militares, para um conjunto de 153 países. As estimativas apontam para essa relação com alguma robustez por meio de técnicas de variáveis instrumentais, identificando, por exemplo, que mais voice and accountability nos países levariam a menos gasto militar. Nos testes de robustez usando a técnica de cointegração, é corroborada a ideia de que mais democracia leva a menos hard power. Palavras-Chave: hard power; instituições; voice and accountability; mínimos quadrados ordinários; cointegração

Spain is a country that conjures up strong vivid stereotypes. Recent studies
about Spain's image abroad still suggest that the country is perceived as the
land of flamenco, siesta, fiery brunettes, sun and bullfighting. These age-old
clichés that emerged in the 18th century still persist nowadays, sometimes
perpetuated internally, consciously or otherwise, by the authorities. For instance
the Spanish government has played a key role in the construction of the
country’s identity among foreign collective imaginaries through different
communication campaigns it has launched in order to attract tourism and
investment.
Likewise recent surveys carried out by global consultancies that measure
country reputation and country image, show that Spain is a great place to live,
but a terrible country to work. This perception has become widespread over the
last years primarily as the economic crisis has bitten deeper.
There are many actors involved in the perpetuation of these stereotypes and
perceptions with which Spain has traditionally been characterized. Among them
stands out mass media on which most people are dependent for information
about international affairs. Media has a strong influence in the creation of public
opinion and it is one of the main factors shaping perceptions of other nations
and countries’ projected image.
Having considered the great significance of the media in this matter, it is
remarkable that to the date, there has been relatively little research into the
countries’ media reputation. The present study takes a step to fill this gap
analyzing the way in which Spain is depicted in a sample of American, German
and Russian mainstream media. Combining both qualitative and quantitative
methods this research compares the presence of Spain in The New York
Times, Kommersant and Die Welt during the period between 2012 and 2014.
Results show that there seems to be evidence to indicate that Spain’s image is
predominantly negative when referring to its hard power but overwhelming
positive in those aspects related to its soft power

Various factors influence the (trans)formation of security, foreign, and defense policies of countries. One of them is normative power, a concept that has gained significance in academic debates in the last decade. However, normative power as an emerging though theoretically disputed concept remains a relatively under-researched area in academia. With the exception of research by mostly European scholars, this particularly holds true for case studies of Asian countries.

This article contributes to the body of knowledge on normative power by analyzing the case study of Japan, from the standpoint of a country that has increased and then applied its normative power as an important means through which traditional (interest-based) foreign, security and defense goals can be pursued. In the analysis of Japan’s aspirations to become recognized as a global normative power advocate, we analyze the impact of the end of the Cold War and the Gulf War on the country’s perception of its strategic environment, and subsequent efforts to redefine its role in promoting a new norms-based framework. We also identify three areas in which Japan has been able to strengthen its hard security while simultaneously reinforcing its normative power: its security alliance with the United States, its multi- and bilateral (military) cooperation with other states, and its ability to bolster both its hard and its normative power in an emerging multipolar international system.

"El sostenido crecimiento de casi 10% anual, experimentado desde fines de los 70 por la República Popular China, produce interés y preocupación mundial por su impacto en el ordenamiento geopolítico internacional. Así, no cabe duda que el “desafío chino” es simultáneamente un tema doméstico e
internacional y está profundamente anclado a su dinamismo económico y al incremento de su influencia global."

Con l’approssimarsi della fine del 2018 sempre più osservatori hanno iniziato a trattare il tema della sicurezza globale. La geopolitica è tornata nuovamente e prepotentemente al centro dell’interesse degli studiosi e degli attori internazionali. Un nuovo termine, lo Sharp Power, ha guadagnato velocemente le pagine delle testate internazionali. Questo mutamento è la conseguenza di un’evoluzione delle relazioni internazionali, di un processo iniziato all’indomani della fine del sistema bipolare, segnato dal crollo dell’impero sovietico (26 dicembre 1991) e chiaramente non concluso. Siamo di fronte a un sistema in costante divenire che però inizia a scrivere i nuovi e futuri scenari globali. Tre sono gli attori che hanno determinato questo repentino e ultimo cambiamento che chiama in causa noi Europei: Donald Trump, Xi Jinping e Vladimir Putin. Ancora una volta l’Europa comunitaria, che non è un soggetto di diritto internazionale, in quanto priva di una sovranità, e che non possiede un esercito europeo, è costretta a rileggere il suo ruolo e le sue azioni in un contesto in continuo cambiamento che richiede sempre più coesione e capacità di intervento, non solo in campo economico e culturale (settori in cui l’Unione Europea eccelle), ma anche e, soprattutto, nel settore militare.

The study is based on the concept of Huntington’s civilizations. They
were used as a methodological basis for an analysis of the changes in
their geopolitical power between 1995–2020 with the following conclusions:
1) The large population growth of 1995-2020 has been driven
primarily by African, Islamic and Hindu civilizations, 2) Economically,
the unquestionable superiority of Western civilization has remained,
although its share has declined. A large economic growth has been
mainly seen in the Confucian and Hindu civilizations, 3) Of the core
countries, the USA, Russia, and China match the status of superpowers,
while for India it seems to be only a matter of time, 4) Most of the
civilizations are economically highly compact and their compactness
has increased over the last 25 years (except of African civilization) and
5) The Western, Hindu and Latin-American civilizations are politically
highly compact. Conversely, the African, Islamic, Orthodox and
Confucian civilizations show low cohesion. The Muslim civilization is
the least compact – politically as well as economically. 6. The superpowers
(United States, China, Russia and India) will remain or become
the most important players in the multipolar world of the 21st century.
However, it is a question whether the most important issue will be the
relations of the Western and non-Western world or the mutual relations
among the other three (actual or rising) superpowers.

Every country aims to increase its international image with the purpose of realizing state interests. Countries usually do this through public diplomacy activities, aiming to expose their soft power to foreign publics as much as possible. On the other hand, national and local media as well as international media also transmit information on daily practices and political developments in other countries. Here we encounter a counterbalance between the information that foreign media transmit for a particular country and, on the other hand, the attempt of that particular country to increase its international image through information management, strategic communication and cultural diplomacy. These measures of public diplomacy have been undertaken by Kosovo, too, in order to increase the international image, at the time when the new country has not yet concluded the process of international recognition. However, foreign and global media also transmit information on developments in Kosovo, because the country still represents a geopolitical clash between Euro-American attitudes on the one hand and the Serbian-Russian stance, on the other. Due to this  media interest, through the monitoring of the global media for the information which has been transmitted  about Kosovo, this paper aims to answer the question whether a country can withstand information transmitted about that country through public diplomacy activities while the country’s soft power resources are quite limited. In other words, can the activities of public diplomacy of a country with often-domestic instabilities take effect? The findings prove that countries with such developments, such as Kosovo, have enhanced international media coverage and the information transmitted for this country is much more frequent and powerful by the mediation channels than the information that Kosovo can convey on foreign publics. In other words, a country's international image is first created internally, i.e. public diplomacy measures appear to be ineffective when the soft power of a country is limited. International media reporting as a counterbalance to public diplomacy strategies for Kosovo's image.