Progressive Islam – A Rose by Any Name? American Soft Power in the War for the Hearts and Minds of Muslims

ReOrient ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farid Esack
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
Hearts And Minds ◽  
Progressive Islam

The circulation of Chinese film in New Zealand as a potential platform for soft power

2020 ◽  
Vol 176 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-92
Author(s):  
Ian Huffer
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Overseas Chinese ◽  
Chinese Film ◽  
A Site ◽  
Hearts And Minds ◽  
Chinese Films

New Zealand is one of only a handful of countries worldwide in which Chinese blockbusters are regularly released in cinemas and has also been a site of increasing debate regarding China’s soft power. This article consequently examines the circulation of Chinese films in New Zealand, not only through theatrical exhibition but also non-theatrical channels, and considers how this might build a platform for soft power. It considers the balance between ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ mainland filmmaking, and between mainland filmmaking and Hong Kong, Taiwanese and diasporic filmmaking, along with the target audiences for these different channels. The article shows that, taken as a whole, the distribution and exhibition landscape for Chinese film in New Zealand builds a successful platform for the People’s Republic of China’s aspirations of winning the ‘hearts and minds’ of overseas Chinese, while also being characterised by clear limitations in reaching non-Chinese audiences in New Zealand.

The Age of the Internet

2018 ◽  
pp. 138-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aakriti Sethi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The People ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Digital Diplomacy ◽  
Hearts And Minds ◽  
Rules Of The Game

The bittersweet characteristics of internet and social media have caught the imagination of the era we live in. No orb of this society is untouched by the marvels of information and communication technologies (ICT). The evolution of internet from ARPANET to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or apps like Watsapp has changed the modern world from its core, impacting every nook of every society. These tools and services have made individuals way more involved in political, social, cultural, and economic happenings around the globe, making them feel authorized to send their message/opinion beyond their computer/phone screen. Amidst this backdrop, state and traditional diplomacy has seen remarkable technological changes. The birth of digital diplomacy has opened a plethora of opportunities for the people as well as the state. Postmodern understanding of a state's power beyond the realm of its military capabilities (hard power) and through the lens of soft power has led to many countries trying to win “hearts and minds” across the globe. But, the interaction of state and newer technologies in the midst of labyrinth unconventional threats has changed the traditional rules of the game.

‘Putin is playing chess and I think we are playing marbles.’ Vladimir Putin’s ‘soft power’ and the American Right

2017 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 437-458
Author(s):  
Anna Popkova
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Conceptual Question ◽  
Vladimir Putin ◽  
Hearts And Minds

The crisis in Ukraine and the Russian annexation of Crimea negatively affected Russia’s image in the United States and in Western Europe. At the same time, the dynamic of the Russian–U.S. relations during the crisis prodded several prominent American right-wing politicians and commentators to make statements about Vladimir Putin that reflected their own ‘desire for a tough leader who will dispense with niceties and embrace power’. This article explores the phenomenon of Vladimir Putin’s ‘popularity’ among the American conservatives through qualitative textual analysis of the coverage of his persona in several right-wing publications and blogs. The project engages with the concept of ‘soft power’ by raising the following conceptual question: can a leader who ‘wrestles bears and drills for oil’ leverage these characteristics as a type of ‘soft power’ when it comes to ‘winning the hearts and minds’ of certain international constituencies and under particular international circumstances?

Russian Soft and Sharp Power Resources

2021 ◽  
pp. 216-232
Author(s):  
Kathryn E. Stoner
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Shape Information ◽  
Cultural Centers ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Presidential Election ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Release Of Information ◽  
Hearts And Minds

Beyond its reformed and upgraded traditional military capabilities, Russia under Vladimir Putin’s regime has also developed some new abilities and redeployed some old Soviet-era techniques to battle the West for global hearts and minds. In one sense they are forms of soft power as understood by Joseph Nye. These are power assets like the use of social media to promote Russian interests, traditional media, cultural centers, and goodwill emergency aid, but distinct from the way Nye defines the term as a passive pull toward the goals of a particular country’s preferences, Russian policymakers have used soft power to in a sense “wage friendship.” That is, they employ soft power resources as part of their foreign policy toolkit to further state interests. This chapter also looks at what has become known as “sharp” power—which includes cyber means to shape information environments in Russia’s favor. Various aspects of Russian sharp power include cyber theft and release of information, planting false stories and using fake social media accounts to launder and amplify a message, as well as purchasing Facebook and Twitter ads to further preferred candidates in foreign elections. The chapter includes a discussion of Russian use of sharp power capabilities in the US presidential election in 2016, as well as elsewhere.

The Role of the Non-state Film Industry in Promoting China’s Soft Power

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 426-446
Author(s):  
Yanling Yang
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Democratic Regimes ◽  
State Actors ◽  
Anglophone World ◽  
Hearts And Minds

Summary This article explores the role of non-state actors from the film industry in promoting China’s soft power. Much research on non-state actors has emphasised the Anglophone world, while little research has been undertaken in the context of non-democratic regimes such as China. Therefore, following scholarly reviews on soft power and the role of its key actors, this article analyses China’s approach to soft power, based on semi-structured interviews conducted with film experts to explore the role of non-state actors in generating soft power. The study reveals that although China has consistently privileged state-owned actors over non-state actors, non-state actors have actually played an increasingly important role in disseminating soft power. The article argues that the more powerfully the Chinese authorities emphasise China’s state actors, the less likely it is that China will win hearts and minds — because of China’s domestic political ideology and censorship mechanism in the field.

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