scholarly journals Soft power and public diplomacy of Germany: past and present

Author(s):  
Alexander Naumov

The concept of “soft power”, which gained popularity in recent years, was developed by the United States at the end of the Cold War. However, Germany has been using similar foreign policy tools long before the emergence of this term in 1990. The subject of this research is the German strategy of “soft power” with its own tradition and specificity that differs significantly from other countries. Public diplomacy remains the key instrument in building the “soft power” potential of Germany. Therefore, analysis is conducted on the evolution of the main vectors of “soft power” policy of the country and the activity of the key actors of its public diplomacy for the past 150 years. The article describes the use of “soft power” strategies by various political regimes that were in power in Germany. The conclusion is made that in foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany, which appeared on the world map in 1949, “soft power” and public diplomacy have played and continue to play an important role, allowing to achieve significant gains on the international arena in light of restrictions imposed after the World War II regarding the use of “hard power” tools. However, the German experience shows that excessive enthusiasm for building the internationally attractive image of the country may lead to quite unpredictable consequences.

IZUMI ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Chadijah Isfariani Iqbal

Pokemon Go is a smartphone game that blends the real and digital worlds, tasking players with exploring their neighborhoods to find creatures and treasure for in-game use. This research describes the ways Japan uses its soft power in international coorporation relations, particulary through Pokemon Go’s game. Based on Joseph S. Nye, Jr, the soft power defined as the ability of country to achieve its goal using cultural attraction rather than coercion and violence. After the World War II, Japan has tried to change its image as war crime through popular culture, such as anime, manga and cosplay. According to Nye, Japan has more potential resources in soft power compared to the other countries. This research is focus on Popular Culture of Pokemon Go’s Game as Japan’s Soft Diplomacy. Pokemon Go is one of  Japan’s cultural diplomacy activities and the other countries uses popular culture to strengthen the positive image of Japan in the international world. The development of popular culture as a soft power and soft diplomacy also a diplomacy tool of development that can be used by Japan in conducting foreign policy in relation to international cooperation.


2002 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 36-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leopoldo Nuti

Drawing on newly declassified U.S. and Italian documentation, this article as-sesses U.S. policy toward Italy under the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations and uses this test case to draw some general conclusions about the nature of U.S. -Italian relations during the Cold War. The first part of the article focuses on issues that have been neglected or misinterpreted in the existing literature on the subject, and the second part presents some of the lessons that can be learned from the study of U.S. -Italian relations in the 1950s and 1960s. The aim is to cast broader light on the current debate about the role and influence of the United States in Western Europe after World War II.


Author(s):  
Daria Mikhailovna Pokrovskaia

The subject of this research is the practice of liberal internationalistic approach to foreign affairs, which form many decades is a defining factors in studying Canada’s foreign policy. The Canadian liberal internationalism emerged after the World War II, and the concept of its ideology received its development in the 1950’s being inextricably linked to the name of Lester Pearson. The object of this research is the views, ideas and main approaches of Lester Pearson, who held a post of Undersecretary of State and later Prime Minister of Canada, towards the formation of foreign policy of the country. Methodology contains the analysis of personal sources of Lester Pearson and his colleagues, public speeches, official documents of Canadian Department of Foreign Policy, as well as writings of the leading Russian and foreign scholars. The author highlights the key principles of the liberal internationalistic approach towards conducting Canada’s foreign policy, among which is the institutional approach, participation of Canada in world politics as a “medium superpower”, mediation in settlement of international disputes, peacekeeping activity and adherence to the ideas of collective security, etc. A detailed analysis is carried out on the personal views and techniques of conducting diplomacy of Lester Pearson that influences the development of the Canadian liberal internationalism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 69-75
Author(s):  
Anton B. Gekht

This article examines the role of Marcus Wallenberg Jr., a prominent financier and industrialist, one of the leaders of the financial and industrial group of the Wallenberg family, in the foreign policy of Sweden on the eve of and during World War II. Having concentrated in his hands the main threads of influence on the industry and the financial sphere of the kingdom, Marcus Wallenberg was unofficially involved in the development of the foreign policy of the kingdom, which sought to be out of direct involvement in the war. The article examines various contacts with representatives of the opposing sides, carries out with the active participation of this banker and industrialist, both as part of official delegations and as individuals – the main focus is on establishing interaction between the USSR and Finland in 1943-1944, as well as cooperation with the Allies – Britain and the United States. The article also analyses the non-institutionalised regular contacts of Marcus Wallenberg Jr. with the political leadership of Sweden during 1938-1945, including the difficulties faced by the financial and industrial group under his control in the period immediately after the end of World War II.


The Group ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald L. Rosenstein ◽  
Justin M. Yopp

The ancient Egyptians were the first to use a wedding ring as a symbol of love and fidelity. Bands were usually made from grass or hemp and worn on the fourth finger of the left hand, which was believed to include the vein that led directly to the heart. The circular shape of the ring—with no beginning and no end—represented eternal love. Over the centuries, societies throughout the world adapted the tradition to fit their own cultures. It was once customary in the United States for only the bride to wear a ring, but this changed during and after the marriage boom that followed World War II. The number of men wearing wedding bands more than quadrupled, and today, double-ring marriage ceremonies are the norm. None of the men in the group had anticipated that “until death do you part” would occur so early in his marriage. After their wives died, what their wedding rings symbolized, and what should be done with them, was far from clear. One evening as the group settled in, Joe reached toward the center of the table to pick out his sub and bag of chips when one of us (Don) noticed something different about his left hand. “Joe, you took off your ring.” All eyes turned to Joe’s left hand. A strip of pale white skin that had been shielded from the sun for nearly twenty years circled the base of his fourth finger. Before that moment, the men had never discussed the subject of wedding rings. The prospect of dating again had compelled Joe to make the change. “It’s not that I’m interested in anyone in particular. In fact, even thinking about going out with someone right now is kind of overwhelming. But, damn, I don’t want to be lonely for the rest of my life. I hope that someday I’ll feel for someone else the way I felt for Joy.” Joe took off his ring because he wanted to believe that one day that time would come.


Prospects ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 489-513
Author(s):  
Lily Phillips

The American Century began in 1945. In the Cold War national narrative that arose in the United States after World War II, America was the hero of the world, a glorious empire called to victory in the war and destined to help others along the road to the American Dream. This narrative advanced a tropology that anchored the construction of the United States as culturally supreme and morally preeminent. It was a nationalistic, self-congratulating celebration — and in the midst of it Howard Fast appeared, the ultimate “Party” crasher.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 34-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Coulmas

Since World War II, the political order that divided the world into nationstates has been remarkably stable. The balance of terror during the Cold War prevented major changes in the world system. With minor exceptions, such as the emergence of Singapore as an independent polity shortly after the foundation of Malaysia and the breakup of highly artificial geographically divided Pakistan into two separate states, even most of the countries that had come into existence as the result of decolonization did not change their borders. However, while the bi-polar system of the political and military stand-off of the two superpowers continued, a triangular world system developed on the economic plane. During the 1970s Japan became a major economic force, while the integration of the European Economic Community continued. Since the end of World War II, the United States has had close economic ties with both of the economic powers.


Author(s):  
Marc Trachtenberg

This chapter examines the policies pursued by the American government to deal with the problem of Eastern Europe in 1945. At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union, it was said, sought to communize eastern Europe; the western powers, and especially the United States, were deeply opposed to that policy; and the clash that developed played the key role in triggering the Cold War. But historians in recent years have been moving away from that sort of interpretation. American policy is also being seen in a new light by many historians. Increasingly the argument seems to be that U.S. leaders in 1945 did not really care much about eastern Europe—that their commitment to representative government in that region was surprisingly thin and that by the end of 1945 they had more or less come to the conclusion that the sort of political system the Soviets were setting up in that part of the world was something the United States could live with.


2004 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. HART

Recent literature has argued that, beginning in the late 1940s, the increasing ideological competition between the Soviet Union and the United States-or, more broadly, between communism and capitalism-transformed America's record of racial discrimination and violence into an international issue with consequences for U.S. foreign policy. This article challenges that historiography by raising questions about both the timing and the cause of the increasing importance of civil rights to the U.S. foreign policy process. It focuses roughly equally upon the damage that discrimination against Latinos in the Southwest did to the Good Neighbor Policy and the dif�culties of the World War II propaganda organization, the Of�ce of War Information, in portraying America's racial practices to the world. To account for these examples requires us to recognize the World War II years-not the Cold War-as the decisive turning point when the history of domestic race relations could no longer be sanguinely ignored by U.S. policymakers.


1995 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-97
Author(s):  
Tadashi Aruga

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Japan moved from isolation and pacifism towards a militarized foreign policy. It relumed to pacifism after its defeat in World War II. The United States discarded its pacifist stance as it entered World War II and reaffirmed its commitment to a militarized foreign policy at the onset of the Cold War. Because both Japan and the United States had been outside or at the periphery of international relations for such a long time, these shifts tended to be far more dramatic than those experienced by European nations, accustomed as they were to an international milieu where peace and war coexisted.


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