Public diplomacy and soft power: building a positive image of the state

Matosian Agapi Elmarovna ORCID: 0000-0002-7390-4268 Postgraduate student; Department of Theory and History of International Relations; Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba 117198, Russia, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 10k2 1142220025@pfur.ru Other publications by this author

The essence of the concept of "soft power"

The factors of information technology and transport development have contributed to international globalization and significantly increased the role of non-governmental corporations, non-governmental organizations, public opinion and individual citizens as actors, changing the main components of international relations. The diversification of subjects of international politics has led to the fact that in recent years the importance of alternative foreign policy instruments, in particular soft power strategies, has increased.

Soft power is a concept that was introduced in the 1990s by the American international political scientist Joseph Nye Jr. The shift towards "soft power" in international relations represents an important recognition of the role that values, ideas and culture play in shaping global politics. By emphasizing the importance of attractiveness and persuasion over coercion and force, soft power can promote greater understanding and cooperation between countries, as well as building a more stable and peaceful international system. However, it is important to recognize that "soft power" is not a guarantee of achieving foreign policy goals in a complex and interconnected world, a more balanced approach is needed, including both "hard" and "soft power" tactics. J. Nye characterizes soft power as a collaborative or indirect power that can help "make others want what you want" and shapes the preferences of others due to the attractiveness of intangible resources such as popular culture or the legitimacy of power ^{[1, pp. 164-167]}.

J. Nye argues that it is necessary to divide the relationship of power into three aspects: the first aspect, the imperative of change or the "face of power" is to force the other side to change its behavior so that it differs from the preferences and strategies that it had from the very beginning ^{[2, p. 11]}. The second aspect, agenda management, is the effective use of ideas and institutions to set behavioral goals in order to make the other party feel that their preferences are wrong or unrealistic, thereby limiting their capabilities and changing their behavior. In other words, it is an aspect of influencing the other party's choice and changing their preferences. At the same time, the other party may or may not be aware of the influences that shape his preferences ^{[2, pp. 11-12]}.

The third and final aspect is the formation of preferences, encouraging another person to create and establish their own preferences, beliefs and ideas. In this case, the other person is often unaware of the influence of other people shaping his preferences and views. The second and third aspects in this case are instruments of attraction and represent a soft force. The first aspect uses the "carrot and stick" to directly influence another person in order to change his behavior, while the second and third aspects influence his preferences, beliefs and perceptions or indirectly encourage voluntary behavior. Soft power relies on the spontaneous actions of the other side, which arise as a result of influencing the personal aspects of the individual, such as images and preferences. Spontaneous behavior, apparently, largely depends on the internal psychological characteristics of a person, and not on external factors ^{[2, p. 13]}.

According to J. In fact, soft power consists of three main elements: foreign policy, political ideals, and culture. In the context of foreign policy, it is necessary that it be perceived by other countries as reasonable and “correct”. Regarding political values or ideals, it is necessary for the Government to have consistent political values at home and abroad, and act in accordance with them in practice. The latter – the cultural element requires that the culture of a country be perceived by other states as attractive ^{[2, pp. 84-87]}.

When implementing countries' soft power strategies, how other countries perceive the state using indirect influence tools is crucial. In other words, soft power largely depends on the perception and image of another country and, as a result, on the actual attitude of another country. As can be seen from the components of its source, soft power is largely related to internal human factors, such as recognition or non-recognition of the attractiveness of the image of the other side, the reliability and legitimacy of the country of the "source" of soft power. It is also important to note that soft power is somehow interconnected with hard power. Rigid or directive force is the oldest form of power; it is associated with the idea of an anarchic international system in which countries do not recognize any higher authority and therefore have to rely on force methods. For J. For example, hard power is the ability to achieve one's goals through coercive actions or threats, the so–called "carrots" and "whips" in international politics. ^{[2, P. 98]}.

As for soft power, E.H. Carr, who shaped international politics as a scientific discipline, already in 1939 gave a classification of power in international politics: military power, economic power and the power of controlling opinion. Carr noted that in order to achieve political goals, the power of controlling people's opinions is no less important than other military and economic forces, while at the same time being constantly in touch with them. Carr further considered public propaganda as a strategic tool of the state in the modern era, noting that in order to control people's opinions, the content of propaganda must correspond to objective facts to a certain extent: the more propaganda differs from the facts, the more likely it is that it will cause a backlash and thus become self-destructive for the state ^{[3, pp. 21-23]}.

As part of the study of the concept of "soft power" by Joseph Nye, the works of Russian researchers, in particular O. G. Leonova, using the concepts of "latent control" and "soft power", are interesting. She draws attention to the fact that "the strategic task of soft power is to form an attraction by creating an effective image of its state." O. G. Leonova sees the main modern tools of latent realization of power in the flows of information, public diplomacy, tourism, sports and culture, migration ^{[4, p.29]}.

In A.V. Torkunov's research, we see that the main emphasis is on education and related soft power tools, which thereby "position" the country in the international arena. These include the export of educational products and services, the popularization of language and, with it, the spread of ethnocultural values ^{[5, P.87]}. M.M. Lebedeva indicates that most Russian and foreign consider the problem of soft power from the point of view of realism, despite the fact that J.M. Lebedev himself. Nye developed it in the context of neoliberalism, where the main emphasis is on the development of international cooperation and the increasing role of non-governmental organizations in world politics ^{[6, p.214]}.

Russian political circles also express their positions on the use of "soft power". For example, SergeyV. Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, in 2023 indicated that the term "soft power" is often associated with the United States, therefore "it is advisable to divide soft power into useful, positive, open and destructive." E.A. Primakov, head of Rossotrudnichestvo, notes that the concept of J. It is quite common not only in academic research, but also in the media. E.A. Primakov criticizes the term "soft power" because he believes that "humanitarian policy" is more suitable for Russia's strategies and tools for promoting cultural products ^[7].

Public diplomacy and the image of the state

Due to the scientific and technological breakthrough after the Second World War in the social sciences, there is a tendency for quantitative and qualitative growth of types and forms of propaganda. K. Mogensen, professor at Roskilde University (Denmark), argues that in addition to traditional diplomatic and military force, propaganda has become an effective tool for politicians. In order for the State to win the political battle in such a situation, it is necessary to win the hearts and minds of other peoples through propaganda, which will lead to the promotion of its own interests. However, it differs from Carr's "search for truth" and Mogensen's "winning the heart" in that a truly correct political philosophy is not necessarily supported by the people, and what the people value depends on the time and environment in which they live, for example, in authoritative or democratic political regimes ^{[8, pp.11-12]}.

It should be noted that with the growth of the political voice of the population, the political importance of individual and collective representations and images has increased. In view of this, it can be concluded that in modern international politics, the favorable image of the state among the peoples of other countries has become one of the mandatory elements of the implementation of foreign policy. From the point of view of the relationship between image and indirect influence, it is important to understand the image of the other side in relation to one's own image as a motivation for building a soft power strategy, since the subsequent actions of the other side have a significant impact on whether soft power actually worked.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that in the context of the influence/formation of public opinion about a particular state, the term "public diplomacy" is more often used in academic research. Public diplomacy refers to activities in which the Government of a country exerts direct influence on the public, public opinion and private organizations of other countries through cultural exchange and dissemination of information about its policies. With the advent of the concept of soft power, the importance of public diplomacy as a type of diplomacy has been increasing in recent years. Initially, public diplomacy was used in the United States in 1965 during the Cold War in response to the growing use of psychological tools to influence international political processes in connection with the development of communication technologies and increased public involvement in global problems ^{[9, p.100]}.

Public diplomacy can be divided into four categories: dissemination of information by governments and ministries in other countries; international cultural exchange; international broadcasting; national branding. Unlike unilateral propaganda, public diplomacy is based on two-way communication, in which it is important to understand how the goal is perceived in order to achieve attractiveness, trust, etc. Public diplomacy is also closely linked to the image of the state in the eyes of the international community: it aims to establish contacts with the public, public opinion and private organizations of other countries. In other words, the task of public diplomacy is to change the attitude of the population in other countries by creating a positive image of the people or the country in their minds. J. Nye sees public diplomacy as a soft power tool that promotes international exchange and creates a positive image in the eyes of the international community ^{[10, pp. 58-60]}.

National branding as an element of "soft power"

The image of the country, perceived by the public both inside and outside the country, consists of a number of characteristics that are brought to the fore by an individual either by contrast with his own culture or by similarity with it. These traits, which begin as cultural manifestations of any sector of the country, tend to be exaggerated and spread to the entire people or state, and it often happens that stereotypes are not consistent, and their assessment is usually extreme - positive or negative. In this context, Anholt and Hildreth developed the "hexagon of the national brand", where they argue that the perception of a country abroad consists of six dimensions (Figure 1) ^{[11, p. 132],[12]}.

Figure 1. "The hexagon of the national brand"

The scheme mentioned above has become a kind of method for assessing the ability of countries to convey attributes, values and characteristics of the state to target audiences; of the six dimensions, it has become obvious that the political aspect has the greatest ability to broadcast and consolidate images, due to its "news" character in international media. It can be assumed that national branding is inextricably linked with public diplomacy in as part of a broader range of soft power strategies. However, unlike traditional soft power tools such as public diplomacy, in the context of national branding, marketing and public relations methods are clearly used to achieve their goals. Thus, national branding provides the state with a useful approach to soft power to create the desired international influence in the international arena ^{[13, p. 44]}.

Soft power strategies are especially important for medium-sized or regional powers, since most of them do not have significant material or power capabilities to influence international processes. Soft power allows you not only to improve your global position, but also to extract economic benefits due to attractiveness. As a result, soft power stimulates both political and economic capital. Sport plays a particularly important role in the arsenal of opportunities to create a country's image. Despite the fact that over the past few years, sport has become a platform for the political struggle of some states, this area still remains one of the main forms of entertainment in the world. Historically, several major global sporting events have been formed, and among them we can clearly distinguish the following: the Football World Cup and the Olympic Games.

The FIFA World Cup is an excellent tool for projecting an image, they serve to stimulate the domestic economy and, above all, if they are correctly applied, they turn into a symbol of the host country, attract investments and visitors. An example is the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, when despite all the previous controversies and contradictions that Russia would not be able to host such a major event, the championship became one of the most "successful" in many aspects of a sporting event. The fan passport system used to attend the match became a successful project and ensured high security in the cities where the games were held.

Language, which is directly related to culture, is also singled out as one of the elements of a soft presence. Some researchers call this area "foreign language policy", since specialized institutions set themselves the task of attracting even more people to their culture through learning the national language. Organizations such as the Goethe Institute, the Japan Foundation, the Cervantes Institute, the Confucius Institute, the Russian World Foundation, the French Institute, as well as various cultural centers at embassies provide not only the opportunity to learn the language, but also allow you to get to know other cultural elements better.

Along with language learning, the popularity of higher education is growing. Educational exports are one of the best ways to promote one's national interests on the world stage. For example, countries such as China, Germany, Russia, the USA, Japan, and the Republic of Korea implement a variety of higher education programs for competent and promising young people from all over the world. An example is the growing attractiveness of Korean education, represented by a variety of government grants and scholarships. The National Institute for International Education (NIIED) also organizes and awards Global Korea Scholarships for undergraduate, graduate and even postgraduate studies at Korean universities with financial support from the government. In addition, there are many scholarships for ethnic Koreans living abroad who are not citizens of the Republic of Korea (for example, The Korean Ancestry Grant) ^[14].

Nevertheless, all the activities of public diplomacy are aimed at strengthening the reputation and image of the country by forming an idea of the basic values, culture and internal policy of the state among the foreign public. For this reason, public diplomacy is an indispensable element for States seeking to change foreign public opinion by promoting culture and building a national image. According to Michael Kunchik, "a national image is an idea that an individual or group has about a certain people, which an individual or group considers valid about a country and its population" ^[15].

Thus, public diplomacy, soft power and national branding are closely linked and are important tools for shaping the international image of the state. Public diplomacy is based on two-way communication and strives to establish trusting relationships with the populations of other countries, while national branding uses marketing methods to create and spread the image of the country, focusing on its values and culture. Both approaches enrich soft power, playing an important role in strengthening the political, cultural and economic influence of the state on the world stage, which contributes to changing public opinion and increasing the country's international prestige.

Conclusion

The mechanisms of soft power and public diplomacy play an important role in shaping the country's global image and reputation. With the help of such tools, the state can maintain a dialogue with an external audience, promote intercultural exchange, form a political strategy and effectively implement digital communication technologies in order to improve its visibility, credibility and attractiveness in the international arena. By building strategic management, depending on how they are represented at the global level, countries can lay the foundation for creating a positive national image that will resonate not only with foreign governments, but also with international organizations, business structures and civil society.

Soft power and public diplomacy are important not only to enhance the country's authority in the world, but also to form long-term international relations that promote cooperation, mutual understanding and peaceful resolution of conflicts. In this sense, a country's soft power goes beyond image alone; it directly contributes to the creation of strong diplomatic ties, economic partnerships and cooperation networks that contribute to the achievement of both national and global goals. In an increasingly interconnected and interdependent environment, the ability to harness the power of communication, culture and values will remain one of the foundations of effective diplomacy and international influence.