Forcing the Common Good

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haluk Karadag

Hard power, the unorthodox foreign policy mechanism, has emerged recently as a complex agency that uses military power to regulate diplomatic relations between military and civilian actors. Although national governments use hard power rather frequently to influence foreign public opinions, the field’s scholarship tends to downplay the role of military instruments in the development of public diplomacy. Almost all armed forces contribute to various public diplomacy efforts by applying basic tools, including humanitarian-relief operations and construction works, and international military education and training programs. This article analyzes these tools in the context of soft power and public diplomacy and demonstrates the impact of military power on public diplomacy. It also reconstructs the effective time frames of public diplomacy works of the military by introducing a novel pattern to understanding these works.

Author(s):  
Ume Farwa ◽  
Ghazanfar Ali Garewal

The power of attraction and admiration is soft power. Generally, it is perceived that hard power cannot generate soft power, but the protective role of military in humanitarian crises and conflicts negates this prevailing misperception by specifying their contexts and effective utilizations; hard power assets can be transformed into soft power resources. This paper argues that the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions are the source of soft power and Pakistan, being an active participant in this field, can utilize this asset for shaping the preferences of others. Overall, it did earn admiration from international community and managed to build its soft image abroad through peacekeeping missions. Pakistani blue helmets not only earned the admiration and appreciation of the people of the conflict-zones and earned praises, but from international community also. However, to what extent has the country utilized this asset of soft power to exercise its influence in the global arena remains debatable. Although Pakistan’s UN Peacekeeping missions have been an instrument of building the country’s soft image, it is publicized in a far less productive manner. Peacekeeping can be used as a means to enhance the country’s presence and the level of participation in both international and regional organizations. By effective application of soft power strategy in tandem with public diplomacy, Pakistan’s UN peacekeeping can provide the country with the platform where its narratives can be projected effectively and its influence can be exercised adroitly.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 49-65
Author(s):  
Binod Khanda Timilsana

Soft power, according to Nye, is a particular power of attraction to a state based on the appeal of its culture, political values, and foreign policies (Nye Jr. 2004, p. 11, 2008, p. 96). In the changing paradigms of state powers from military strength, economic might, political power, technological competency to soft power endeavors, identification of own soft power is the process of measuring own strength. Hard power measures can be observed from out sides as well but soft power potentialities will not appear easily without systematic attempt to expose them in front of international actors. Hard power measurement is easy and more exact than soft power qualities. There are very limited academic attempts visible in identification of Nepal’s soft power. Great soft powers of the world are visible and measurable through soft power indices developed by different think tanks and research agencies. The soft power 30 and Global Soft Power Index are exemplary forums engaged in ranking states in terms of soft powers. Reputation, influence, political values, culture, foreign policies, enterprise, culture, digital, governance, engagements and education are the indicators of soft power. The newly explained taxonomy of soft power includes four subunits of soft power namely resources, instruments, receptions and outcomes. Buddhism is a powerful soft power resource of Nepal. Conflict resolution and peace process model of Nepal is another potential soft power. Culture, engagement in multilateral global and regional forum, natural beauty with the world is highest Mt. Everest, diasporic community of Nepal, social networks, public diplomacy and personal diplomacy are remarkable soft power properties of Nepal. Nonetheless, identification of Nepal’s soft power is in very preliminary phase.


2020 ◽  
pp. 100-113
Author(s):  
Tetyana Meteliova ◽  
Vira Chghen

The article is devoted to identifying the role of the Confucian component in shaping China’s foreign policy during the period of “reforms and openness”. The author analyzes the Chinese “soft power” model and its differences from the classical one, the theoretical foundations of which were formulated by J. Nye, and discovers the China’s “soft power” features in foreign policy and establishes its meaningful connection with Confucian values and concepts. The article provides an overview of “soft power” interpretations in the main works of Chinese scholars, examines the reflection of Confucian “soft power” ideas in the state and party documents and decisions of the period of “reforms and openness”, shows the application of Confucian principles in the foreign policy of China. It is shown that the creation of effective Chinese “soft power” tools is becoming a part of a purposeful and long-term policy of the state. Such tools include the swift reform of leading media, TV and radio companies using modern technologies and focusing on foreign audience abroad, promoting China’s traditional and modern culture in foreign cultural markets, increasing China’s presence on the world market, spreading and promoting the Chinese language, “Education Export” and widening educational contacts, economic ties development and scientific and technical cooperation, public diplomacy development, support of the compatriots living abroad. Geopolitically, China’s soft power strategy is focused on developing relations with its close neighbors and creating a security belt around China. It has been proved that modern China seeks to proclaim itself as a new “soft power” center, the creation of which is a part of the State purposeful long-term policy. It is accompanied by the active appeal of Chinese ideologists to the country's traditional cultural heritage and basing of this new foreign policy on the conservative values of Confucianism, which is a kind of civilizational code determining all aspects of social life for China.


2017 ◽  
Vol 232 ◽  
pp. 982-1001
Author(s):  
Gary Rawnsley

AbstractAccepting that Taiwan has accumulated “soft power” since the introduction of democratic reforms in the late 1980s, this paper assesses Taiwan's external communications during Ma Ying-jeou's presidency and how its soft power resources have been exercised. Demonstrating the strategic turn from political warfare to public and cultural diplomacy, the paper begins with the premise that the priority must be to increase familiarity with Taiwan among foreign publics. It then argues that any assessment of external communications in the Ma administration must consider the impact of two key decisions: first, the dissolution of the Government Information Office and the transfer of its responsibilities for international communications to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a new Ministry of Culture, and second, the priority given to cultural themes in Taiwan's external communications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-83
Author(s):  
Serhiy Orel ◽  
◽  
Vadim Durach ◽  
Bohdan Sjoma ◽  
◽  
...  

Military impact on the environment can be defined as two components: 1) impact on the environment in time of daily activities during the training of troops and 2) impact on the environment during the combat operation. In the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to some extent, environmental security measures are implemented only during daily operations in peacetime. As for taking into account the impact of fighting on the environment in time of planning combat operations, this issue is usually not even raised in their preparation. On the other hand, NATO member states understand that military operations can be inherently destructive to human health and the environment. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the educational requirements for commanders, especially for officers who provide environmental protection in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, based on NATO regulations and the experience of Allies. The article considers how environmental issues are integrated into the military operation at each stage: planning, pre-deployment, deployment (execution and force rotation), redeployment, and post-deployment. The main tasks of environmental officers at each stage of the operation are defined. Based on the tasks solved by officers, the requirements for their education are formed, the subjects studied by US environmental officers are considered.


Author(s):  
Yuliia Yu. Bobrova ◽  
Yuriy O. Bobrov

The analysis of numerous scientific publications demonstrates the great relevance of gender studies at the current stage of Ukrainian social development, in almost all spheres of social relations. As for ensuring equal participation of men and women in the functioning of the military organisation of the state, the implementation of such a gender balance contributes to improving civilian control over it through the possibility of developing the capacity of regulatory bodies in gender issues, promoting dialogue between the community and control bodies, and drawing public attention to the problems of accountability of institutions of this organisation. The main purpose of this study is to highlight the state of gender equality in the military organisation of the state through the lens of civilian democratic control. The study determined the state of legislative regulation of the concept of military organisation of the state and civil democratic control. The study analysed the introduction of a gender perspective in Ukraine in the subject matter and the dynamics of establishing a gender balance in the military organisation of the state; the impact on existing trends of legislative initiatives. It is stated that the modern Ukrainian army is mostly “male”. Despite the fact that women are allowed to serve in the military, they do not take part in making socially important decisions, they do not hold high military positions, and career growth is challenging for them. The study identified the main problems of implementing gender equality in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other structures of the Defence Forces of Ukraine, which are more based on social stereotypes of pre-defined roles for men and women. Civil control over the Armed Forces is described as a socio-political process in this area


2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Napoleon Bamfo

Abstract African nations never seriously addressed the issue of term limits for incumbents until newly-drafted constitutions did so in the early 1990s. Since then, however, some incumbents have initiated campaigns to circumvent that measure. Some of those initiatives have been successful; others have not. Incumbents attempting to stay in office longer than what constitutions originally allowed used to be a time-honored strategy that African leaders regularly employed throughout the post-independent period until the early 1990s. The autocratic and single-party regimes that littered Africa's political landscape epitomized the extent to which political incumbents would go to keep anybody else, including members of their own party, from winning the highest political office.The response of opposition groups and the military, which assumed a guardianship role, to this wanton aggrandizement of power was a spate of military coups, counter-coups, and sabotage or destabilize those regimes. African nations paid dearly for this wave of instability to which almost all political systems became associated. This period of uncertainty and decay reminiscent of Africa's recent history is being re-invented following unsuccessful attempts of political incumbents in Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia to seek additional terms. Even as these efforts were being resisted, incumbents elsewhere were succeeding at securing additional terms. This paper examines the impact this recent trend among incumbents for term extension will have on the building of political institutions in Africa. If history were to serve as a guide, that spells an ominous foreboding.


2005 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy E. Taylor ◽  
Shavaun M. Wall ◽  
Harriet Liebow ◽  
Christine A. Sabatino ◽  
Elizabeth M. Timberlake ◽  
...  

This article presents the results of a study of six low-income women, each of whom is raising a child with a suspected or diagnosed disability while also serving as an active member of the armed forces. Their experiences as they attempt to strike a balance between the highly demanding work role of the military and their role as a mother of a child with disabilities are examined. This article also discusses the personal strengths these women display, the barriers they confront, the strategies they use to negotiate competing demands, and the impact of this effort on their personal and professional lives. Practice and policy implications are drawn for early intervention and family support programs.


Subject The impact of the failed July coup on civilian-military relations. Significance The psychological impacts of the attempted coup across political life cannot be understated; it has far-reaching implications for the political, bureaucratic and even ideological structures of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). In the aftermath of the attempted putsch, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is more determined than ever to alter the civilian-military machinery of government in Turkey radically. Impacts The purge and radical reforms will bring into question the TSK's operational and strategic reliability for Western partners. A permanently weakened TSK would ease the way for constitutional reforms strengthening Erdogan's grip on the state. It will take years to rebuild the confidence and prestige the military has lost among broad swathes of Turkish society. Any criticism of the TSK reforms, domestically or from abroad, will meet the authorities' fierce condemnation.


Author(s):  
V. Bashynskyi ◽  
H. Pievtsov ◽  
P. Openko ◽  
A. Kozyr

The beginning of the XXI century was characterized by the emergence of a new type of war – information one, when victory is achieved not by destroying the armed forces and the economy of the enemy, but through the impact on his moral and psychological condition. In modern conflicts, methods based on the integrated application of political, economic, informational and other non-military measures based on military force are increasingly used. The combination of these methods is implemented in the concept of hybrid warfare, the leading idea of which consists in achieving political goals with minimal military influence on the enemy through the use of modern information technology based on "soft power" and "hard power". The peculiarity of such a war is that it is conducted in disguise using mostly non-linear tactics and is not aimed at capturing the entire territory of the country, although it is possible to take control of partial territories, but to obtain patronage over the state, which is achieved through influence on the population, politics, business, law-enforcement agencies. A striking example of the implementation of the concept of hybrid war is the actions of the Russian Federation (hereinafter - Russia) against Ukraine. At the same time, Russia's "hybrid policy" is not limited to Ukraine. It also covers Europe and the United States, the EU and NATO. In order to analyze the development of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in the period up to 2035, an analysis was made on the development of the information aspect of relations between Ukraine and other influential regional and world actors on the development of the situation around Ukraine. In preparing the forecast, the tools of scenario analysis were used, namely: the analysis of the main influencing factors, which allowed determining the trends of regional development until 2035. This analysis makes it possible to develop a baseline scenario for the development of the situation, provided that the situation around Ukraine over time will not change significantly; the main factors that are difficult to predict and non-collinear are identified.


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