Politics and International Relations
Hasan Sadeghian; Arastoo Fadaei
Abstract
Today, political analysts consider that the concept of "smart power" has developed as a result of the combination of "soft power - hard power". The case study of the current research confirms this claim; This means that Turkey, during the last two decades, to advance its goals and realize its interests, ...
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Today, political analysts consider that the concept of "smart power" has developed as a result of the combination of "soft power - hard power". The case study of the current research confirms this claim; This means that Turkey, during the last two decades, to advance its goals and realize its interests, has combined soft and hard power mechanisms such as the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, the Public Diplomacy Coordinating Organization, the Yunus Emre Institute, the Radio Organization and Turkish State Television, Anadolu Agency, Organization of Turks Abroad and Related Communities, International Organization of Turkish Culture, Turkish Red Crescent, the Office of Religious Affairs, Turkish Education Foundation, etc. It is a powerful presence and gaining national, regional, and international authority, on the other hand, in the discussion of public diplomacy, beyond these motives, the provision of religious, humanitarian, ethnic, and security goals has been prioritized.In other words, Turkey's soft power has been effective in its various dimensions during the last two decades and has paved the way for the holders of this power [the Justice and Development Party governments] to have both authority, interests, security, and a kind of Cover the self-concept and the deepening of religious and ideological attitudes with the clothes of realization. So that the leaders of this country, realize this in choosing the field, apart from being in the peripheral regions, they also think about distant regions; Therefore, Turkey is one of the countries in the region that has paid attention to almost all cultural climates in the field of Islam and Muslims. Central Asia, the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, Southwest Asia, the Balkans, the Crimean Islands and beyond, the Horn of Africa, etc., have generally been exposed to the presence and cultural movements of Turkey in recent years.However, the source and origin of Turkey's soft power should be sought in the deep social, political, and economic developments of this country. This in turn is based on an effective combination of political strategies of the ruling political structures, which intensified the focus of politics on the individual, companies, and civil society organizations. This development included redefining the Turkish political language, giving a new role to business organizations and non-governmental organizations, and reanalyzing the relationship between Islam and democracy.It is obvious that along with the economic and social changes in the domestic sphere, the emergence and occurrence of important changes in the international scene, such as "the end of the Cold War and consequently the end of the bipolar system", and "Turkey's membership proposal in the European Union" are an opportunity. It provided new possibilities for Turkey, the most important of which was openness from the perspective of foreign policy and trade policy. Turkey's soft power discourse parallels the rise and fall of Turkey's foreign policy; Therefore, it has gone through different periods.So in the last two decades, when we are facing the single rule of the Justice and Development Party, Turkey's soft power has been influenced by the ups and downs of foreign policy. In other words, according to the political nature of the Justice and Development Party government and the process of domestic, regional, and international political developments, the weight and importance of the aforementioned mechanisms in securing national interests have been different. For example, in the first decade of the Justice and Development Party's rule, i.e. from 2003 to 2013, the role of soft power mechanisms such as Tika and Yunus Emre in smoothing the path of progress and development was much greater. But in the second decade, that is, from 2013 until now, with the beginning of the crises in the Middle East region and Turkish campaigns in areas of Syria and Iraq and the emergence of internal political problems in Turkey such as the Gezi Park crisis and the failed coup of 2016, the role and importance of mechanisms It has become more difficult to secure national interests. The presence and role of Turkish military forces in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Karabagh, and recently in Afghanistan confirms this claim.So, with the reduction of Turkey's decisive foreign policy and the reduction of international credibility, which served the political program of the Justice and Development Party, the credibility and importance of the discourse of soft power has been greatly weakened, and in a way, it has witnessed a shift in discourse, which means the decline of soft power and We are witnessing the emergence of hard power, in which the role of mechanisms such as the Red Crescent, the Crisis Management Organization, and the Armed Forces have increased exponentially. Regional changes and the failure of developmental policies in West Asia, the increase of radicalism and terrorism, the involvement of foreign powers, and the need to deal with increasing combined threats, etc., are the necessary reasons for the use of hard power at the disposal of Ankara. Contract. Turkey's activity in this sense is mainly based on four pillars:- Presidential system with extensive executive power and centralized decision-making process;- a domestic defense industry that increasingly meets the needs of the armed forces locally;- Trying to have strategic autonomy as a great regional power;- A professional army with a long history in multi-front combined wars. (found)The theoretical framework of the current research is based on the theory of "soft power" (theoretical framework) and in terms of methodology, the "process tracing" method has been used from the subsets of case analysis. (Method) In general Four types of "mechanism" definitions have been presented, each of which is concerned with [mostly political-social] issues from a specific dimension:Mechanism as the cause of an effect [the effect of choosing a certain set of preferences and requirements on social outcomes]; 2. mechanism as a mediating process, event, or variable [discovering the nature, substance, or internal structure]; 3. Mechanism as an indeterminate causal process [causal sequences linking events; causal patterns that occur repeatedly and are easily recognized, but operate under generally unknown conditions or with unknown results]; 4. The mechanism is an intangible thing that creates the result [events that change the relationships between some elements and components of the set; A set of interconnected components or elements that create an effect that does not exist by itself in any of the elements alone].In the current study, the definition of the fourth type, that is, "mechanism as an intangible thing that creates the result"; has been exploited. In this way, the main hypothesis is that Turkey's soft power supply mechanisms are considered as a set of interconnected components or elements that create an effect that by itself Does not exist in any of the elements alone. In other words, mechanisms such as Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, Public Diplomacy Coordinating Organization, Yunus Emre Institute, Turkish State Radio and Television Organization, Anadolu Agency, Organization of Turks Abroad and Related Communities, International Organization of Turkish Culture, Administration of the Office of Religious Affairs, Maarif Foundation, Red Crescent, Armed Forces, etc. are an interconnected and at the same time separate complex that the realization of Turkey's soft power depends on their individual and collective actions.
Politics and International Relations
Hamid Hakim; Emad Helalat
Abstract
Soft power is a tool utilized by different actors in the evolving international system based on their capabilities. In this transformed international system, soft power becomes a vital element in increasing influence over international outcomes, as it makes it more difficult to coerce countries and non-state ...
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Soft power is a tool utilized by different actors in the evolving international system based on their capabilities. In this transformed international system, soft power becomes a vital element in increasing influence over international outcomes, as it makes it more difficult to coerce countries and non-state actors through traditional hard power tools that mean threats and force.
The People's Republic of China is one of the influential actors in the realm of international relations. Its large economy, ranking second in the world, has enabled the country to utilize its economic power as a tool to advance its goals. According to most experts in the field of economics and international relations, China is projected to surpass the United States as the world's leading economy by 2030 and establish itself as a dominant economic power on the international stage, although Joseph Nye disputes this notion in his book "The Intelligent Power."
Over the past few decades, China's foreign policy has pursued different dimensions and forms of power in the international arena, in line with its domestic environment and international circumstances. China's bitter historical experience in dealing with Western powers and enduring the era of humiliation, as well as the ideological components stemming from the Communist revolution, shaped its foreign policy during Mao's era with a strong hardware-oriented approach to power and a focus on win-lose dynamics. With the emergence of Deng Xiaoping, China's foreign policy outlook shifted towards a process of power acquisition and security enhancement. Since the 1990s, significant changes have occurred in China's domestic and international conditions, as the emphasis solely on one dimension of power made the country vulnerable to long-term interests. It was in the mid-1990s that soft power gained a special position in China's foreign policy. Jiang Zemin believed that due to various internal and international reasons, China had to incorporate new dimensions of power, including soft power, into its agenda to change its position and ensure security.
Among the influential regions targeted by China, which shares over 1,800 kilometers of border with it, is Central Asia. This geographical proximity has fostered economic, political, and even cultural links between China and the countries of this region. The historical Silk Road, which originated in China and extended through Central Asia and Iran towards Europe, has strengthened these connections. In this regard, Chinese elites also strive to showcase their soft power on the global stage and in the direction of defeating enemies by utilizing the country's traditional culture, values, and teachings, combined with modern culture.
The main objective of this research is to highlight China's development-oriented policies in the Central Asian region. The significance of this research lies in the fact that Central Asia is considered part of Iran's cultural sphere, and Iranian culture and art have a significant presence in this region. This research adopts a descriptive-analytical approach to answer the question of how the Chinese government employs soft power as a tool for its development ambitions in Central Asia. The article argues that by utilizing its soft power tools in cultural, political, and economic dimensions, the Chinese government influences the countries of the Central Asian region. However, it also faces challenges that hurt its soft power. This research examines the soft power of China, its capacities, tools, and challenges by addressing the concept of soft power and the Chinese government's utilization of it in Central Asia.
Based on this, the research is structured into three main sections. The first section provides an overview and theoretical framework of the research. The second section explores China's soft power in Central Asia, including the existing tools and capacities of the Chinese government in this domain. The third section discusses the challenges faced by the Chinese government in leveraging its soft power.
Considering that the main question of the research was how the Chinese government uses soft power as a tool for its expansionist ambitions in Central Asia, it is argued in this research that the Chinese government influences the countries of Central Asia through its soft power tools in cultural, political, and economic dimensions. However, it faces challenges such as the presence of regional and extra-regional powers (such as the United States, Russia, and India), Islamic fundamentalism, and cultural unattractiveness, which hurt its soft power. It can be concluded that China has been able to introduce itself as an influential variable in this region through its economic relations with Central Asian countries, both through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other frameworks. China has attempted to exert its influence on the development and progress of these countries by tying their economies to their own, creating consumer and transit markets, and utilizing the energy resources available in these countries. The Chinese government has placed economic tools as the foundation of its global and regional movements, particularly in Central Asia. In the cultural sphere, despite scholarships for students and the promotion of the Chinese language and Confucian culture, different perspectives, especially in neighboring countries, indicate that Russia and the United States have a relatively more desirable position in terms of China's soft power and influence. In the political sphere, there is authoritarianism in Central Asian countries, similar to China, but civil society and the general public in Central Asia do not find China's soft power politically appealing and prefer the liberal democracy model of the United States. Despite China's efforts to achieve its goals through initiatives such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Belt and Road Initiative, it faces challenges that have affected these initiatives. Russia considers Central Asia its domain and China's presence and influence in this region pass through Russia's channel. The United States identifies China as the biggest threat to its national security and seeks to have an influential presence in the region as an international player. Islamic fundamentalism (terrorism) is another challenge for China. The presence of Chinese semi-military forces in Syria in the form of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and their return to Central Asia and China, creating security crises, makes Central Asian countries a potential center of terrorism in the future. Overall, it can be stated that despite all the progress China has made in this region, the existence of these challenges has affected China's soft power.
