scholarly journals From ‘Soft’ to ‘Hard’ to ‘Moderate’: Islam in the Dilemmas of Post-2011 Saudi Foreign Policy

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 211
Author(s):  
Stella Athanasoulia
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
External Pressure ◽  
Central Position ◽  
International Image ◽  
The Status ◽  
Vision 2030 ◽  
Future Direction ◽  
International Behavior ◽  
Modern Image

Due to its specific history, Saudi Arabia’s domestic and international politics are inextricably linked together. In the shaping and implementation of the kingdom’s essentially defensive international behavior, Islam has kept a central position as a legitimizing factor and as a tool of ‘soft power’ foreign policy. This paper firstly aims to explore the position that religion holds in the Saudi perceptions of stability in the post-2011 era, where safeguarding the status quo remained the priority, while the new administration responded to external pressure by shifting towards a ‘hard power’ foreign policy with questionable results. Furthermore, the paper explores the links between foreign policy choices and the promotion of a new, modern image for the kingdom whereas the regime has appropriated for itself the notion of ‘moderate Islam’ in order to restore its international image and attract investments for the ‘Vision 2030’ reform program. Finally, it proposes a discussion of the position of Islam in the future direction of the country, amidst an increasing authoritarian rule.

scholarly journals Cultural Diplomacy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the context of the Vision 2030 Strategy Implementation

2021 ◽  
pp. 143-154
Author(s):  
N. O. Konopka ◽  
T. L. Strykhotskyi
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
Strategic Communication ◽  
Strategy Implementation ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
International Image ◽  
The Status ◽  
Vision 2030

In recent years, increased attention has been paid to the growing role of soft power as well as public and cultural diplomacies in international relations. This article is devoted to the analysis of the peculiarities of Saudi Arabia’s cultural diplomacy in the context of the Vision 2030 strategy implementation. Riyadh sees cultural diplomacy as an important tool to improve its international image and develop strategic communication. The strategies Vision 2030 (2017) and Cultural Vision (2019) are the framework documents of the Kingdom on the basis of which it is possible to analyze its soft power policy. The authors trace different levels of cultural development in Saudi Arabia. The status of the KSA, as the centre of Islam, allows the active use of religion as one of the most important components of cultural diplomacy. The same reason permits the development of religious tourism. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidelines promotes the teachings of the Quran, develops Islamic centres and mosques, coordinates Islamic organizations, supports Islamic universities and institutes abroad, and strengthens the reputation of the state and Saudi rulers as Custodians of the Two Mosques. In recent years, the Kingdom has undergone major reforms, including the cultural ones. The authors outline how Saudi Arabia has intensified cultural policy in implementing its Vision 2030 strategy through the establishment of the Ministry of Culture, the MiSK Art Institute and other organization s. The authors conclude that cultural diplomacy is attractive to the country’s leadership as a tool for disseminating Saudi values and that pandemic will determine the further framework for the development of Saudi cultural diplomacy in the nearest future.

Coffins versus cradles: Russian population, foreign policy, and power transition theory

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Dabbs Sciubba
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Its Region ◽  
Transition Theory ◽  
System Level ◽  
Power Transition ◽  
Power Transition Theory ◽  
Secondary Powers ◽  
The Status ◽  
International Behavior

In May 2006, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia’s dire demographics were the biggest challenge facing Russia. We know little about how states conduct foreign policy under demographic decline but some expect Russia to become more pacifist or to turn attention inward as its internal situation deteriorates. Power transition theory (PTT), however, which considers population as a key component of power, anticipates riskier international behavior under demographic changes. PTT predicts aggression under two conditions: when a dominant power sees its decline while secondary powers are rising; and when an inferior state sees its power increase while the dominant power declines. This article interprets Russia’s foreign policy actions from May 2006 through 2012 in light of PTT. I find that Russia was physically aggressive in its region when its population decline peaked, as PTT expects. Power transition theory also predicts Russia’s diplomatically aggressive foreign policy at the system level as Russian leaders’ perceptions of a favorable shift in the global balance of power gave them more confidence in Russia’s capabilities to challenge the status quo. This study furthers our understanding of foreign policy-making in times of demographic decline, extends power transition theory, and serves as a model for evaluating demographic trends and foreign policy for other great powers.

scholarly journals Positioning Religion in International Relations: The Performative, Discursive, and Relational Dimension of Religious Soft Power

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 940
Author(s):  
Zikun Yang ◽  
Li Li
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Historical Sociology ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Clash Of Civilizations ◽  
Predictive Capacity ◽  
Global War On Terror ◽  
Future Direction ◽  
Global War

Amidst the global religious resurgence in the post-secular world, the field of international relations finds itself unwilling or unable to situate religion back to theoretical paradigms subject to the Westphalian–Enlightenment prejudice. Advocates of religion’s theoretical and empirical significance often turn to religious soft power, a burgeoning theory that gradually becomes the anchorage of discussion but still suffers from conceptual ambiguity and limited explanatory capacity. This essay endeavors to fill in this lacuna by presenting the interdisciplinary attempt to integrate soft power in IR with the three dimensions of power in sociology, which results in a typology of performative, discursive, and relational dimensions of religious soft power. The explanatory and predictive capacity of this model is tested in the empirical case of the evangelical group’s influence on US foreign policy of the post 9/11 Global War on Terror. A process-level historical account based on archival sources furthers scholars’ knowledge of transnational religious actors’ ability to seize both systematic transformations at the international level and contentious dynamics in the domestic environment, which generates a reorientation in norms, identities, and values that contributes to the outcome of foreign policy, thereby answering the un-addressed question of how religion influences domestic and international politics. The bridging of IR, sociology, and historical sociology, three fields often intertwined, suggests a future direction for not only the religious return to IR but also the overcoming of the “intellectual autism” of this discipline, which needs to be better prepared for continuous challenges of soaring populism, nationalism, and clash of civilizations in the twenty-first century.

scholarly journals Conceptualizing the strategies of representing the image of Russia: History and Evolution (communicative aspects)

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 135-146
Author(s):  
E. V. Kolokoltseva
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Considerable Effect ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Information Campaigns ◽  
Winter Olympics ◽  
International Image ◽  
The One ◽  
Fundamental Values

The paper addresses the issue of the genesis and the evolution of the conceptual formation of the official attitudes toward the principles governing the representation of the Russian Federation and their scientific covering. It appearance in key foreign policy documents and its significance is analyzed with the view to two major conceptual schemes: the international image and the objective perception. Both concepts were examined with comparative research methods. The problems of tracing the current transformations in the official rhetoric to the transformations that are now taking shape in promoting Russia are the factors why this issue is relevant. The particular aspects of the research included the key documents of official bodies endowed with powers to shape foreign policy that were published in the period between 2000 and 2019. The activities of the key institutions and content providers in what concerns international positioning were outlines. Holding and covering mega-events, such as the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, also served the image needs and, in this respect, was examined in the paper. The concept and method of soft power is introduced for analysis, as it is increasingly efficient and useful in both these respects. The paper concludes with stating that the practice of positive positioning of Russia abroad was substituted in favour of the one of engendering objective perception. The main concern for that consisted in foreign pressure and negative information campaigns, so the decision was a counter measure. In this context, the shift between the two concepts of international promotion is revealed in official documents, having a considerable effect on the communicative potential in terms of acting in accordance with the fundamental values and real attitudes inherent in the Russian culture. Esse quam videri is now not only the national principle, but also the foreign image.

scholarly journals American foreign policy at the crossroads: Between idealism and realism, informal and formal empire, unilateralism and multilateralism

2004 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milovan Vukovic
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Biological Weapons ◽  
American Empire ◽  
War On Terrorism ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The Status

This article compares and contrasts current U.S. "war on terrorism" and proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons (NBC?s) with the general U.S. foreign policy during the Cold-War and post-Cold War eras. The focus is primarily on a growing dilemma - "informal" or "formal" American empire - that rises from unprecedented asymmetry in military power between the United States and its closest followers. Also, this article analyzes the role of non-material elements of power (so-called soft power) and reviews recent views regarding the "unilateralism-multilateralism dichotomy" in American foreign policy. The author demonstrates that the "war on terrorism" and proliferation of NBC?s weapons show that U.S. status as the only super-power is not simply a matter of resource availability and relative power. Military muscle is an essential requirement, but it does not itself secure that position. This is especially true for the status of an empire either "informal" or "formal.".

MODERN STRATEGY OF “SOFT POWER” IN UZBEKISTAN

2020 ◽  
pp. 54-59
Author(s):  
Philipp Zakharov
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
Asian Region ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
The Status ◽  
Current Leadership ◽  
The Republic

The foreign policy of Uzbekistan has become more dynamic and the country has moved confidently along the path of its interests since Shavkat M. Mirziyoyev came to power. The new President of Uzbekistan has launched an ambitious course to get the Republic the status of a regional leader. Uzbekistan actively uses soft power as one of the tools of its foreign policy. The author analyzes and compares the activities of the previous and current leadership of Uzbekistan in implementing integration processes and extending its influence to other states of the Central Asian region. In the conclusion, the author notes the pronounced course of modern Uzbekistan in interaction not only with the countries of the region, but also with such powers as Russia, China and the United States.

Foundations and Introduction of Islamic Economics: Role and Trends

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-138
Author(s):  
Dr. Bilal Ahmad Khan
Keyword(s):  
Modern Science ◽  
Central Position ◽  
Islamic Philosophy ◽  
Moral Training ◽  
Human Ability ◽  
The Status ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Specific Concept ◽  
The Individual

Islamic economics based on specific concept of universe and the creation of man is contradictory to the concept adopted and accepted by modern science. Islamic economics postulates although ability and expertise is required for progress and growth but distribution of resources completely dependent on it would be cruel, inhuman and bereft of kindness, and lead to oppression. Islamic economics does not favor making human ability and expertise the fulcrum of resource distribution. It should be kind, considerate and based on justice and fairness. This is because according to Islamic philosophy, ownership is considered to be a trust from Allah which has been bestowed on the rich so that they may utilize it correctly. In Islamic economics the role of the individual, has inclinations and his aims and objectives occupy a central position and are vitally important. He is definitely a rational being but his level of rationality is not confined to the calculations of cost and profit. An individual does not want merely to obtain monetary profit and physical pleasure and leisure but he also wants and aims for something beyond what the material world has to offer. The main aim of the study is to find out the relationship between Islam and economics. In Islamic economics the comprehensive moral training of the individual, his technical and educational ability, his aims and his priorities are of primary importance. According to Islamic economics the means of acquiring wealth has the same importance as wealth itself. Dishonesty, abuse of trust and earning of wealth through fraudulent ways and means may perhaps increase the status of an individual but the society suffers because of it on the whole. This leads to an unjust and oppressive economic system.

The AKP’s Foreign Policy

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-46
Author(s):  
Kubilay Arin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
The West ◽  
Islamic Revival ◽  
Western State ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
Over Time

When Turkey’s Justice and Development Part (AKP) came to power in 2002, it brought a new strategy to foreign policy. Some scholars ascribed this reorientation to the rise of neo-Ottomanism, others to Islamization, and yet others to a Middle Easternization of foreign policy. All labels have one element in common: They give weight to Islam and Turkey’s imperial past as soft power assetsin the conduct of foreign policy by rejecting secular Kemalism in the country’s diplomacy. The AKP capitalized on Turgut Özal’s neo-Ottomanist foreign policy and Necmettin Erbakan’s multi-dimensional foreign policy by using Turkey’s pivotal geopolitical location to transform it into a global actor. The ongoing Islamic revival has caused the country’s attempted full westernization to slow down. But the West itself is hardly a monolithic bloc, given its own many internal cultural, linguistic,religious, political, and economic differences. I therefore describe Turkey as a “hybrid,” a modern and developing “semi-western” state, and argue that over time it will become ever more “socially conservative.”

Politics of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Turkey: Limits and Prospects of Populism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatih Resul Kılınç ◽  
Şule Toktaş
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Syrian Civil War ◽  
Turkish Politics ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Mass Influx ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees ◽  
The Eu

This article addresses the international movement of asylum seekers and refugees, particularly Syrian immigrants, and their impact on populism in Turkish politics between 2011 and 2018. The article argues that populist politics/rhetoric directed against Syrians in Turkey remained limited during this period, especially from a comparative perspective. At a time when rising Islamophobia, extreme nationalism, and anti-immigrant sentiments led to rise of right-wing populism in Europe, populist platforms exploiting specifically migrants, asylum seekers, and the Syrians in Turkey failed to achieve a similar effect. The chapter identifies two reasons for this puzzling development even as the outbreak of the Syrian civil war triggered a mass influx of asylum seekers and irregular immigrants into Turkey. First, the article focuses on Turkey’s refugee deal with the EU in response to “Europe’s refugee crisis,” through which Turkey has extracted political and economic leverage. Next, the article sheds light on Turkey’s foreign policy making instruments that evolved around using the refugee situation as an instrument of soft power pursuant to its foreign policy identity. The article concludes with a discussion of the rise of anti-Syrian sentiments by 2019.

scholarly journals Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Blues: Powering BRI Research Back on Track to Avoid Choppy Seas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marc F. Blanchard
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
The Road ◽  
Political Costs ◽  
Maritime Silk Road ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
On The Road

AbstractThis piece examines and critiques the massive literature on China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It details how research currently seems stuck on the road to nowhere. In addition, it identifies a number of the potholes that collective research endeavors are hitting such as that they are poorly synchronized. It also stresses that lines of analysis are proliferating rather than optimizing, with studies broadening in thematic coverage, rather than becoming deeper. It points out that BRI participants are regularly related to the role of a bit player in many analyses and research often is disconnected from other literatures. Among other things, this article recommends analysts focus on the Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI) or Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) in specific regions or countries. It also argues for a research core that focuses on the implementation issue (i.e., the issue of MSRI and SREB project implementation), project effects (i.e., the economic and political costs and benefits of projects), and the translation issue (i.e., the domestic and foreign policy effects of projects) and does work that goes beyond the usual suspects. On a related note, research need to identify, more precisely, participants and projects, undertake causal analysis, and take into account countervailing factors. Furthermore, studies need to make more extensive use of the Chinese foreign policy literature. Moreover, works examining subjects like soft power need to improve variable conceptualization and operationalization and deliver more nuanced analyses. Finally, studies, especially by area specialists, should take the area, not the China, perspective.

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