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Summary: The opening of the Congress Hall in Berlin-Tiergarten in 1957 took place during the heyday of the Cold War. Designed by American architect Hugh Stubbins, the building became a focal point in East–West confrontations. Against this backdrop, the article explores the role of architecture in national soft power by taking the example of the Berlin Congress Hall. Commencing with a discussion of architecture as a component of soft power along five criteria, it goes on to examine the planning of the Congress Hall and the significance of its unique design vocabulary. The article concludes that the building, strategically located near the sector borders separating East and West, represents a concrete embodiment of US soft power. Although not an official representational building, the Congress Hall has thus served as a political, cultural and ideational 'embassy' of the United States and a major building block in German–American relations up to the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article underscores the conceptual nexus of diaspora and soft power. It analyses US soft power, its main operating mechanisms and tools, and the role of diaspora groups in the transfer of American values, using Armenia and the Armenian-American diaspora community as a case study. The paper argues that ethnic diaspora groups are increasingly important actors of soft power. Along with protecting and promoting the national interests of their country of origin, ethnic diaspora groups play a unique role in promoting the host country's soft power by establishing links and enhancing mutual understanding between both societies and states and providing the transfer and network for the host country's values and ideals abroad. The article highlights the role of the Armenian diaspora political parties, the Armenian-American sociopolitical and lobbying organisations, and the activities of prominent Armenian Americans and their charitable foundations in the spread of American values and ideals, and the advancement of American soft power in Armenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the anthropological debates surrounding humanitarian borders, this article analyses the functioning of the humanitarian border in central Mexico. More specifically, it focuses on the state of Puebla as a case study that casts light on the ways in which the humanitarian border operates in states located far from geographic borders, which are frequently overlooked in discourse and action on migration and asylum in Mexico. Based on ethnographic research in Puebla between 2019 and 2022, we analyse how the state has been incorporated into the international humanitarian circuit by being made responsible for handling asylum seekers and refugees who have been relocated from the south of the country. Against this backdrop, a humanitarian border comprising two dimensions has emerged: a hard border governed by securitarian control measures and a soft border managed by humanitarian actors. In this article, we will analyse the soft humanitarian border. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's Cultural Diplomacy: A Great Leap Outward? by Xin Liu explores China's use of cultural diplomacy as a means of asserting its influence on the global stage. The book examines how China has modernized its media usage and increased official visits to shape global public opinion. It also delves into the role of Confucius Institutes as vehicles for cultural soft power and the challenges China faces in promoting its authoritarian image. The author argues that understanding China's cultural diplomacy requires considering its historical, international, and domestic contexts. The book provides a comprehensive analysis of Chinese cultural soft power and is accessible to both academics and the general public. [Extracted from the article]

"Chinese Soft Power" by Maria Repnikova is a comprehensive analysis of China's soft power tools, policies, and practices. The book explores the Chinese perspective on soft power and compares it to Western understandings. Repnikova examines key soft power tools such as Confucius Institutes, Chinese media, educational exchanges, and mega events, and discusses how they are received by other countries. The book also addresses the impact of China's pandemic policies on its soft power, and offers recommendations for future research. However, one criticism is that the book neglects to discuss how China may have influenced Western soft power mechanisms. Overall, "Chinese Soft Power" provides valuable insights into China's soft power strategies and their implications in the Xi Jinping era. [Extracted from the article]

Inequality in global health is not only in vaccine access and distribution among countries but also in the gap in vaccine diplomacy discourse. The concept of vaccine diplomacy emphasizes how the producer countries use vaccines as a tool of diplomacy and soft power instrument. Therefore, the vaccine-consumer countries are less represented in this concept. This study analyzes and proposes the concept of diplomacy on vaccines (DoV), reflecting the perspective of consumer countries. In DoV, even though developing countries have limitations on producing and accessing the vaccine, they are active in negotiation, lobbying, and involvement in multilateral mechanisms to secure access to the vaccine while promoting equity. DoV explains that vaccine-related diplomacy does not occur in an asymmetrical relationship between producer and consumer countries – but mutual relations with active negotiation. It allows the vaccine-consumer country to use its "soft power" in negotiation to access the vaccine while creating a coalition for equity. However, the vaccine-consumer countries may compete in implementing DoV and are vulnerable to being trapped in the competition of the producers. Furthermore, the DoV may complement vaccine diplomacy by providing a more equal and fair idea of global health diplomacy through the involvement of the vaccine-consumer country's perspective. It represents the term for Third World countries' diplomacy related to the vaccine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The purpose of this article is to explore the contemporary role of international higher education, research and innovation (IHERI) in international relations (IR). Using an interdisciplinary and conceptual approach, it examines how diplomacy and higher education scholars understand and label the rationales, strategies and contributions of IHERI to IR. The findings indicate that multiple terms are used, resulting in terminology chaos and confusion. The concept of knowledge diplomacy is proposed, defined and analysed as a comprehensive term to frame the role of IHERI in IR. The similarities and differences between knowledge diplomacy and related terms such as cultural, public, science and education diplomacy and soft power are examined. Issues that require further investigation are identified, with special attention given to the differences between using a knowledge diplomacy approach versus a soft power approach to understand the role of IHERI in IR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, China has become increasingly influential in Africa, and the US policy pivoting to confront domestic challenges and withdrawing from its role in international fora has raised many concerns. Based on this global context, this paper examines the US-China soft power competition through foreign aid. It takes a relational lens to analyze their aid to the African countries. It first looks at how foreign aid could be transformed into soft power assets, and then innovatively puts the two countries side by side and examines the relational powers of their foreign aid and the impacts on the other's national image. The paper uses ordered (Ordinary Least Squares) OLS, ordered logit, and IV regression to analyze aid data and opinion poll data. The results show that foreign aid can promote the African perceptions of both countries. It also finds that Chinese aid has a negative impact on the image of the US in Africa, while American aid has no significant effect on African perception of China. This conclusion aligns with the competitive nature of the US–China relationship. China's model of aid may be preferred by Africans, while the US may need to revisit its approaches in Africa in order to turn this situation around. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do Taiwanese officials view democracy and culture and how do they plan to utilise these two soft power resources as part of advancing the island's international position? Based primarily on interviews conducted with state officials in Taiwan, this paper analyses Taiwan's soft power repositioning in the regional and global soft power competition and examines its advantages and disadvantages. It discusses the institutional and geopolitical constraints Taiwan faces when trying to implement its soft power policy and addresses the internal disagreements over utilising its cultural and democratic achievements. It concludes that despite the utility of soft power in pursuing its foreign policy agenda, Taiwan faces a few major institutional and conceptual obstacles, keeping Taiwanese diplomacy in a transitional period from old thinking about culture and diplomacy while hesitantly evaluating its soft power resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since the Justice and Development Party (akp) came to power in 2002, Turkey has been weaving relations with the Arab countries, focusing on Syria as the gateway to the Arab World. The akp party’s vision of the regional and global roles for Turkey was under the banner of neo-ottomanism. This became evident after 2011, when Turkey became directly involved in the upheavals in the Arab world, and especially in Syria and Libya by reverting to hard power rather than soft power. Hence this article focuses on the development of Turkey’s policies towards the Arab world in the past few years and especially in 2022 and 2023 as Turkey stands on the verge of decisive presidential elections due in spring 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the literature on regional power-hood and its application to Africa with a view to answering two key questions: one, whether we can talk of regional hegemons in the continent in real terms, and two, whether group hegemonic leadership better explains regional hegemonic behavior in Africa. It uses Sandra Destradi conceptual framework and Miriam Prys' typology of regional power-hood to answer these questions, with South Africa and Nigeria as case studies. Using Prys' typology which distinguishes between regional detached powers, regional hegemons and regional dominators as an analytical framework, the paper confirms what already exists in the literature, viz. that neither South Africa nor Nigeria neatly fit the conception of regional hegemons in Africa. However, it uses both countries as empirical cases to argue that they already act as hegemonic leaders and in cooperative ways that suggest group or shared leadership, using specific Common African Positions they have led in Africa. The analysis concludes by laying out the normative basis for a Group Hegemony composed of not only South Africa and Nigeria, but also other sub-regional leaders in the continent. This is based on the hard power shortfalls and internal weaknesses of both our case studies including their relative soft power resources which have utility in an increasingly intersocial international system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the Paris exposition Japonismes 2018 , organized by the Japanese government to introduce the European public to the profundity of Japanese culture. It examines the organizational deliberations leading up to the exposition; the curation of individual exhibits held within its ambit; and the cultural politics of 'Japan expositions' that began with Japonismes and continue to this day. It argues that the organizers and exhibits in Japonismes make political use of the trope of a timeless, mystical, and animistic Japanese sense of beauty that supposedly unites prehistoric pottery and contemporary comics and animation. This Japanese aesthetic vision claims to provide an alternative to Western norms, thereby promising to resolve contemporary problems, such as anthropocentrism, by influencing Western aesthetics as it had in the late nineteenth century. Japonismes exemplifies how Japanese soft power diplomacy can employ Western tropes about Japan, such as Japonisme, for its economic and nation-branding efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China features significantly in the Covid-19 narrative for good and bad reasons. The purpose of this paper is to test, empirically, the assumption that Covid-19 would negatively influence perceptions of China in Ghana, due to its perceived relationship with the pandemic. We characterise Chinese manufactured products as soft power resources and analyse the role they play in addressing the personal needs and interests of Ghanaians and how they affect positive and negative perceptions of China amid the Covid-19 pandemic. We used a mixed research method and collected data from a sample size of 1,020 for analysis. We found that Ghanaians are rational actors who maximise the perceived gains of their actions in pursuit of their objectives. Thus, the self-interest and personal satisfaction Ghanaians gain through China's manufactured products outweigh the negative representation of China in the Covid-19 narrative, shaping a positive attitude in Ghana towards China. We situate the argument within rational choice theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates how natural resources can be an asset for countries' international influence while advancing national interests specially related to cultural economy. It focuses on Jingdezhen, the Chinese porcelain capital, a creative city in UNESCO Creative Cities Network, which has succeeded in extolling Chinese culture by converting its "white gold" into soft power by way of effective city diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with glaring economic inequality within China, and the need to grow soft power globally, president Xi Jinping has identified the urgent need to usher in a "new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics," and has specifically called for the expansion of " xin cishan " (新慈善), or "new philanthropy." Both as a new phenomenon in the PRC, and as a novel type, "new philanthropy" represents an opportunity for the nation to envision and cultivate charitable practice that mediates between market economics and socialist ethics, and grants China a moral authority that is legible to a Western gaze yet resistant to cultural imperialism. Based on yearlong ethnographic research inside an elite philanthropy training program, this article outlines three different visions that were found to coexist: philanthropy-as-new-revolution, philanthropy-as-new-legacy, and philanthropy-as-new-tradition. I also examine how wealthy participants responded to these various interpellations—part of a process I call "philanthropic subjectification." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ISIS's media projected the group's vision of an Islamic utopia upon declaring its so-called Caliphate in 2014. In response, many counter-messaging campaigns have emerged. Although many examine ISIS's media and anti-extremism interventions, very few assess faith-based initiatives in Arab countries. Integrating two bodies of scholarly literature on religious and political conversions and entertainment-education, this study explores al-Siham al-Marika, a faith-based Arab drama portraying life under ISIS. The study uses mixed-methods to analyze the show's religious underpinnings, the depiction of positive/negative role models, and the portrayals of religious-political conversions. Focusing on spiritual outcomes, the show illustrates cross-cultural differences in conceptualizing rewards and punishments and uses drama to bolster the persuasive power of religious-political conversion narratives. The study concludes with a discussion on the implications of faith-based entertainment-education in combating extremism and its potential role as a catalyst for bridging the perceived schism between religion and popular culture in some Muslim societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reveals the voices, logics, and consequences of sixteenth-century American storytelling about the Battle of Lepanto; an approach that decenters our perspective on the history of that battle. Central and South American storytelling about Lepanto, I argue, should prompt a reconsideration of historians' Mediterranean-centered storytelling about Lepanto—the event—by studying the social dynamics of its event-making in light of early modern global connections. Studying the circulation of news, the symbolic power of festivities, indigenous responses to Lepanto, and the autobiographical storytelling of global protagonists participating at that battle, this paper reveals how storytelling about Lepanto burgeoned in the Spanish overseas territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses the security transformation in the Black Sea region through the prism of threats and approaches flux, making an additional focus on the OSCE role in the regional security affairs. It comes from the assumption that whereas security threats have been evolving, demonstrating its fluidity in terms of the soft and hard power perspective, the OSCE remained with the realm of 1975 in terms of its approaches towards the Black Sea security. The main research questions are: How has security perception changed in the Black Sea region for the last three decades? Whether the OSCE is a security actor in the Black Sea region? Can resilience-building be a smart security response to the current challenges? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the revival of Gothic ecclesiastical architecture in nineteenth-century Britain, a cultural interest in church furnishings reignited alongside intellectual attention to their symbolic and emotive power. Rood screens, in particular, became both a symbolic and literal locus for the production of awe, mystery and revelation. The primitive interpretation of rood screens both exalted the object symbolically and allowed it to activate the spiritual senses by limiting physical sight to the altar, thus preserving the mysteries of the Eucharist. This essay considers how rood screen controversies during the mid-Victorian period unveil complex relationships between emotion, revelation and sight within Gothic Revival church interiors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Despite the growing significance of Japan's cultural diplomacy within the landscape of international relations, the study of effective ties with Thailand has not received much attention to date. This article employs a structural approach in analysing 'when' and 'how' Japan's cultural diplomacy has evolved vis-à-vis Thailand. The article emphasises the importance of structural factors as being relational, further complicated by different levels and degrees of influence throughout three periods: the economic-oriented period (1950s-1960s), the diplomatic adjustment period (1970s-1980s), and the social relations building period (1990s-present). The analysis reveals two layers of Japan's foreign policy instruments—economic diplomacy and cultural diplomacy — in the structuralist narrative of Japanese diplomacy towards Thailand. While economic power has been an important instrument, this article highlights how changes in the structure of international systems have had corresponding impacts on Japan's application of cultural diplomacy that has subsequently shaped the bilateral Japan-Thailand relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2008, a negative image of China has prevailed in Europe, leading to the country's image crisis in the region. The state has implemented several policies to improve such a perception. This paper aims to examine the major tools of China's attempts at influence in Europe, targeting the media and public opinion. Applying the concept of soft power and public diplomacy, we analyse the tools China uses to modify and shape public opinion about itself in Europe. The research framework comprises secondary resources on China's foreign policy, soft power, public diplomacy and media strategy in Europe. We distinguish four primary influence tools: China buys European media outlets to prevent negative information about itself; it pays for inserts in leading European newspapers; it signs cooperation agreements with media organisations and holds media forums; and it limits access to its market to affect media, film and academic content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the place of non-economic drivers in China–Africa relations. While existing studies are hinged on economic relations between Beijing and the continent, this study focuses on non-economic aspects that underlie Africa's relations with China. Taking the soft power approach, the paper illuminates on the salience of attractiveness in international politics and interrogates sources of China's attractiveness in the continent and compares China's actions with those of traditional actors for broader empirical coverage and methodological rigour. The authors argue that while economic drivers are an important basis for understanding China–Africa relations, several fundamental features beyond the economic relations supplement the growing relations between Beijing and Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article combines the study of Taiwan's New Southbound Policy with a case study of Taiwan–Myanmar relations from a perspective of political relations, economic cooperation, and Taiwan's (un)recognisability in Myanmar—i.e. Taiwan's soft power in Myanmar. The first part of the paper introduces the policy and compares it with the previous ones, and sheds light on Taiwan's motivation to engage with Myanmar. It considers the ongoing trade war between the United States and China, due to which investment relocation from China is expected to sharply increase. The second part of the paper provides an insight into the relationship between Taiwan and Myanmar after Myanmar's state-led political transformation from military rule and economic liberalisation since approximately 2010. It explains the main aspects and determinants of the relationship between two countries that share a neighbouring potential hegemon which they both wish to balance against. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's connections with Southeast Asia are rooted in history in terms of geography, civilization, culture, economy and strategy. These connections became deeper since the 1990s as India initiated the policy of 'Look East' that resulted in manifold growth with ASEAN and Singapore. The initiation of 'Look East Policy' opened the door for Singaporean Indians for investments and interaction with their motherland. Through the 'Look East Policy' the distance between India and ASEAN ended and India was connected with this region and especially Singapore through trade relations. With this policy, India was able to enter this region and this was the chance for the Indian people to revitalize and energize their social and cultural bonds with their motherland (Pande 2017). These relations were further intensified after 2014 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially launched 'Act East Policy'. While 'Look East Policy' was launched by India in the backdrop of the critical economic situation, the 'Act East Policy' is aimed at strengthening our relations in terms of cultural, political and strategic dimensions. Therefore, this paper aims to study and analyse the role of the Indian diaspora as a soft power for making strong bilateral bonds between India and Singapore with special reference to the political and economic scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: China's growing confidence on the world stage under the leadership of President Xi Jinping is reflected in the country's more active, vocal and, lately, even 'wolf warrior' diplomacy. It is also clearly visible in China's public diplomacy approach, where priorities have shifted from advertising Chinese culture as the country's major source of soft power to promoting China's models of domestic and global governance. The Chinese government proudly presents policies such as the Belt and Road Initiative and, more recently China's approach to the COVID-19 pandemic, as improvements in global governance or sometimes even as Chinese 'gifts' to the world. This article argues that under President Xi, the content and form of China's public diplomacy have changed. China's public diplomacy has hardened, it is more strongly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and the content of China's public diplomacy messages have become more political. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the main parameters of the modern world development, its architectonics and the most important development trends. Modern communications and principles of interaction of various social systems are also considered. As a result, the most significant cultural-cum-civilizational systems are distinguished – the West, China, the Islamic world and Russia, which represent four global trends or four vectors of power that fundamentally affect the current state and prospects of world development. It is emphasized that the West and China have a global strategy, provided by objective circumstances. The Islamic world and Russia occupy an important geopolitical position and also have a special status in the global world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are once again in the forefront of diplomatic activities. In this essay, I unpack a relatively understudied area within city diplomacy: the link between cities and countries. Although cities enjoy a heightened level of agency in the international arena, they do not exist in a vacuum. As substate actors, the actions of cities could impact their home countries. Using lessons learned from public diplomacy studies and situating soft power as a framework to describe such activities, I first present the changes in the diplomatic landscape that paved the way to resurgence of city diplomacy. Next, I propose a more inclusive definition of the activities of cities in the international arena. Last, I show the link between cities and countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas the Obama administration had equivocated, the Trump White House declared its vehement opposition to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This shift went together with the Trump administration's designation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) as a strategic competitor and a broader deterioration in bilateral relations. However, as it began to posit alternatives to the BRI, the Trump administration fell back on the policy thinking of the established foreign policy community. In doing this, it tacitly accepted the importance of soft power and the adoption of strategies requiring close cooperation with allies and partners so as to develop regional infrastructural "connectivity" projects. The White House thereby stepped back from the unilateralism, "principled realism," and reliance upon hard power that had defined Donald J. Trump's 2015–2016 presidential campaign. Nonetheless, U.S. efforts to develop policy alternatives to the BRI were limited, unstable, and variegated. The Trump administration's actions in other policy arenas often stymied efforts to counter the PRC and initiatives such as the BUILD Act and "Prosper Africa" received scant resources. On the basis of this policy pattern, the article argues that policy communities at times can "harness" other counter-positioned, political currents, but ongoing ideational stresses and abrasion will inevitably characterize the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"China's Global Aspirations and Confucianism" by Anja Lahtinen explores the role of Confucianism in contemporary China's search for global power. The book argues that Confucianism shapes China's cultural identity and plays a central role in its soft power strategies. It examines the historical development of Chinese Confucianism, its influence on China's foreign policy, and its impact on projects like the Belt and Road Initiative. The book also compares Confucianism with other philosophical traditions and discusses its relevance to building a morally inspired cosmopolitan order. While the book provides valuable insights, it overlooks some historical and conceptual nuances and contains minor errors. Overall, it offers an informative perspective on the connection between Confucianism and China's global aspirations. [Extracted from the article]

Since the 1990s, Taiwan has achieved an impressive democratisation that has made it one of the most vibrant democratic societies in Asia. Most of the existing research about Taiwan's foreign policy and cross-strait relations neglects how Taiwan's identity and role as a democratic and pluralistic state influences the island's external relations. This article analyses how Taiwan's achievements in the field of democracy and human rights affect Taiwan's foreign policy and its identity in world politics, and why democracy and human rights are important for it and its external relations. The analysis uses role theory and the three roles of normative power, civilian power, and Global Good Samaritan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This article explores the overlooked role of museums in the international arena as playing a dual role in cultural diplomacy. It explores the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to illustrate an emerging 'hybrid' form of diplomacy that cannot be strictly defined as 'state' or 'non-state'. Although the article documents strong ties between the Hermitage Museum and the Russian government, it also reveals the Hermitage's growing capacity to build productive bilateral cultural relationships with foreign partners, bypassing governmental control. Specifically, the article looks at the international network of Hermitage Foundations as a successful museum international outreach and fundraising campaign that significantly contributes to the Russian government's efforts in cultural diplomacy. This case offers new empirical findings from the non-Western context, exposing the growing role of museums in contemporary diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing number of scholars have written about the "New Scramble for Africa" as the attention of China and the US to the continent has grown. This is better understood as a new "Cold War" in which the world's superpowers have been engaged in a war of influence and "soft power" (Nye, Jr. 1990, 2004) in Africa for two decades. Focusing on international and local development workers in Zambia, this article outlines the contours, and implications, of Trumpism in the "New Cold War." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores a series of blockbuster exhibitions of DreamWorks Animation developed by the Australian Centre of the Moving Image (ACMI) in collaboration with one of the largest Hollywood producers. Curated by ACMI, this blockbuster exhibition was designed to provide a behind-the-scenes look into collaborative processes involved in DreamWorks animations. This exhibition travelled across the Asia-Pacific in 2015-2017 and was hosted by a number of museums, such as the ArtScience Museum in Singapore, the Te Papa Museum in New Zealand, the Seoul Museum of Art in South Korea, and the National Taiwan Science and Education Centre in Taiwan. It displayed over 400 unique objects from the studio's archive 'of rare and never before displayed material', such as drawings, models, maps, photographs, posters, and other artworks. The article explores the highly favourable reception to the DreamWorks Animation blockbuster in different cities in Asia. It employs a geo-visualization of Asian engagement with the blockbuster exhibit to reveal and explain local and global mechanisms of 'attraction' power, generated by DreamWorks in different Asian countries. Contributing to the special issue, this article engages with two aspects of it: the form, cultural digital mapping; and the content, the nature of media pop culture exemplified through the traveling blockbuster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In contemporary public diplomacy, the idea of culture and nation-state are so intertwined that notions such as 'national culture' that fuel populism or culture as a soft-power resource often go unquestioned. This article critically revisits assumptions of state-centric diplomacy that tie culture to the state. Culture as a domain of the state, which helped carve up the world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, has become limiting in a twenty-first-century milieu that is both culturally diverse and interconnected. The article probes the communication dynamics that are untethering culture from the state and giving prominence to forces of increased separation as well as global collaboration, including the phenomenon of humanity-centred diplomacies. Humanity-centred diplomacies' distinguishing features — global consciousness, holistic perspective, cultural diversity and process-orientation — suggest advantages over state-centric diplomacy for leveraging cultural diversity and tackling complex global problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A global crisis exists today, driven by a toxic mix of populist politics and disruptive social media. For public diplomacy to respond, it must remain true to its core principles: 1) begin by listening; 2) connect to policy; 3) do not perform for domestic consumption; 4) look for credibility and partnership; as 5) the most credible voice is not your own. 6) Public diplomacy is not always 'about you'; but 7) is everyone's business. These core principles must now be supplemented by the following future needs: 1) reframing soft power as a new category of reputational security, relevant to the survival of vulnerable states; 2) contest disinformation and engage in information disarmament; 3) counter victim narratives; and 4) articulate a compelling vision of the future. This article refuses to abandon an element of optimism and continues to see hope in the ability of humans to connect effectively with one another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Soft power is the ability to affect others to obtain the outcomes one wants through attraction and persuasion rather than coercion or payment. A country's soft power rests on its resources of culture, values and policies. A smart-power strategy combines hard- and soft-power resources. Public diplomacy has a long history as a means of promoting a country's soft power, and soft power was essential in winning the Cold War. Smart public diplomacy requires an understanding of the roles of credibility, self-criticism and civil society in generating soft power. As authoritarian states today use new cyber technologies and other means to disrupt political processes in democracies, questions arise about the boundaries of soft power and the appropriate policies for public diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A decade ago many Russian analysts concluded that the West's efforts to preserve its global superiority would be futile and the emergence of a polycentric world was inevitable. To benefit from this transition Russia should adopt a strategy that combined great power realism and "traditional" Russian values. This strategy, first elaborated in Vladimir Putin's Valdai Speech of 2013, is known as 'Civilizational Realism'. This article describes the emergence of Russia's new sense of self-worth, how and why Russia gradually lost faith in the West as a potential partner, and how, through the internal adoption and external projection of conservative multicultural values, Russia hopes to forge a new, and more pluralistic, world order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a new approach to Russian foreign policy under Putin's presidency as shifting from its 'soft power' model to what might be characterized through the prism of biopower. The author discusses the various meanings attached to the concept of attraction, and scrutinises the biopolitical turn in Russia as a domestic phenomenon and as a key element of Russia's power projection abroad. It is argued that biopolitics as a power instrument can play different roles – it can be a tool to construct Russian national (and simultaneously imperial) identity and to distinguish Russia from the West, and channel for communication with conservative forces across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that President Richard M. Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China (PRC) established an anti-Soviet alliance between Beijing and Washington that reshaped the global Cold War power balance. Naturally, scholars have focused on strategic issues such as the Sino-Soviet split, the Vietnam War, Taiwan, and other factors of "high politics" to understand the U.S.-China rapprochement. However, one can no longer dismiss U.S.-PRC trade in the 1970s, albeit small in total volume, as insignificant and thus unimportant to the reconciliation. This article first examines how the Johnson and Nixon administrations conceived trade as a useful tool to improve relations with Communist China. It then explores how the Americans and Chinese carried out trade between themselves in the 1970s. It argues that many Americans were enthusiastic about U.S.-PRC trade because they believed that reopened economic relations with the United States would persuade the PRC to abandon its Communist model of modernization and move closer to following the capitalist example. If the United States could promote China's attraction to its capitalist model for future development, then their shared economic interests and developmental visions would consolidate further the U.S.-China strategic alliance. In this sense, promoting trade was a way for the United States to apply soft power to change the PRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft power, according to Joseph Nye, in 2004, is ‘the ability to affect others through the co-optive means of framing the agenda, persuading, and eliciting positive attraction in order to obtain preferred outcomes’. The United States is applying many initiatives and policies of soft power in the Arab world. No other state holds as much widespread cultural attractiveness around the globe as much as the United States. Yet, America’s political and cultural popularity in the Middle East, including the Arab world, is still relatively low when compared with other regions of the world. In 2014, from the 10 states that were most unfavourable toward the United States, five were Arab states. Therefore, like hard power, soft power also has its own limits. This article focuses on the reasons and conditions that impose such constrictions and limits on US soft power in the Arab world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite saying that they will never "talk to terrorists," many countries have done so. Often these dialogues have included a component of so-called "Track Two Diplomacy." This article examines whether such a dialogue could be held with at Qaeda and other such groups. Research demonstrates that dialogues have been useful in ending terror campaigns in certain circumstances, but that they were never the decisive element. Where they have been useful, dialogues have helped to distinguish those members of terror organizations who are willing to talk from the hardliners, in helping to develop 'acceptable' players on the other side, and in allowing the two sides to better understand each other. The article finds that a dialogue with the hard core of at Qaeda is likely impossible, but that some elements may be willing to talk. Such dialogues will be localized and will be about specific concerns and, like in other cases, will be about seeing if there are elements of the movement that can be detached from the hard-core base. Track Two may have a role to play in these dialogues, but expectations should be kept modest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of China as an emergent global power in gaining access to energy and mineral resources is one of the main factors for reinforcing Korea's aid to Africa. Although Korea recognizes the limits of searching for ways of furthering its 'resource diplomacy' based primarily on economic pragmatism, the Korean government has strived to utilize foreign aid as a tool for soft power. Korea's perspective is to play a bigger role in addressing global issues as well as to aspire in becoming a middle power, in the sense that it is not regionally influential in spite of its growing powers. Given that middle power diplomacy tends to pursue a norm-based approach and also provides knowledge and/or ideas relevant to a unique niche that it finds important, it is characteristically soft power-oriented. Taking into account the non-material or ideational factors as well as material ones, constructivists in the field of international relations (IR) recognize the power of ideas, norms, institutions, and interests, which contain the core elements of what Nye calls soft power. In this context, this paper attempts to illuminate some of the important questions as to why and how Korea has endeavored to focus on developing its soft power strategy toward Africa in the new millennium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can a small state stand up to some of the major powerful states? If the answer is yes, what sort of socio-political environment would enable a small state to stand up to powerful states and effectively relieve hegemonic pressure from powerful states? This paper argues that Sri Lanka, a small and weak state, managed in the last few years, to effectively relieve hegemonic pressure from India and is standing up to the the USA. The Sri Lankan case demonstrates that a small state can effectively relieve hegemonic pressure from powerful states if its political milieu entails the following three elements: (l) the will of the political leadership, (2) a supportive population, and (3) patronage of major rival states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Criminal Court faces many daunting political challenges in Kenya, Libya, and Sudan. It has addressed these challenges and defended its impartiality in these situations by insisting that it remains an apolitical institution. This article challenges the conventional focus on the ICC’s apolitical nature by adopting an alternative approach that examines its political and pragmatic role in seeking mutual accommodation. It argues that the ICC can and should seek mutual accommodation rather than simply justice under the Rome Statute. In doing so, the article develops and applies the term diplomatic efficacy, or the political capacity of the ICC to produce acceptable solutions, by addressing the soft power dimension of such efficacy. The ICC’s diplomatic efficacy not only reflects its special role as an independent court or agent in the interstate system, but also represents a practical and strategic attempt to manage the political problems that its interventions and deferral to national authorities may create. The article concludes that the ICC’s political efficacy can help to resolve the incongruities between proactive complementarity and the provisions of cooperation encoded in the Rome statute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The new Israeli public diplomacy approach seeks to empower Israeli citizens to utilize their position both as information consumers and producers in order to participate in grass-roots public diplomacy efforts. So-called 'peer-to-peer diplomacy' reflects the shift from 'old public diplomacy', where the nation-state has since 1960 been the sole actor in international relations, to today's reality where average citizens play an increasingly important role. The notion of 'peer-to-peer' (P2P) describes the latest development in diplomatic practice, wherein civilians - by virtue of social media - are not only consumers of government information, but also information producers, with the potential to bypass existing official government bodies. Today's public diplomacy is about more than governments employing 'soft and smart power'. It is increasingly about dealing and collaborating with a public that can obtain and produce the information themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]