China’s soft power

The notion of soft power introduced by American political scientist J. S. Nye is becoming increasingly popular not only in science but also in journalism. In short, this term should be understood as the use of ideology, culture and diplomacy to build the international position of a given state. The masters in the application of soft power are generally considered Western states. However, it is forgotten that for many centuries before the West soft power to build its power was successfully used by China. Also today, rebuilding its international power, China is using soft power in its mastery of the world.

The development of Chinese soft power in Central Asia – opportunities and challenges

The article presents analysis of the development of China’s soft power in Central Asia. Since 2005, China has been trying to promote Chinese language and culture in Central Asia. Institutes of Confucius began to appear in the region. There are currently 13 of them. More and more youth from this region are learning Chinese. They also go to China to study at Chinese universities. Learning Chinese language increases the prospects of professional development and employment for people from the region. However, China still has a long way to achieve a satisfactory level of promoting its culture in the region. There are accusations that Beijing wants to train the Central Asian elites in line with the Chinese model. Central Asian states are, however, particularly sensitive to their cultural heritage. Cultural independence is among the foreign policy priorities of these countries. Beijing should continue to increase efforts to create a positive image in the countries of the region. The new Silk Road is becoming an important element of diplomacy to promote Chinese soft power.

The principle of non-interference in another country internal affairs and its role in People’s Republic of China foreign policy

This essay is an attempt to elaborate the role of state sovereignty and the resulting principle of non-interference in the law and practice of international relations. Authors undertook an attempt to map out the course of the evolutionary process of changing the perception of these rules and the relationship between the concept of state sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in the light of the most important acts of international law. Authors found a need to answer the question about whether and when interference in another country policy is legally and actually permissible. Moreover the goal of the article is to describe and to explain the role of non-interference principle in China’s foreign policy after year 1949. In order to achieve the stated assumption, authors analyze its historical determinant (dated back to the mid of nineteenth century) and also following, after the end of World War II, process of seeking support in international law, in face of two imperialism, which were adversarial to each other. Authors also consider the reasons for China’s economic success in Africa in the context of the principle of non-interference, to finally move into the issue regarding the evolution of the sovereignty perception and non-interference policy among Chinese decision-makers.

Neo-Ottomanism Policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Its Impact on Ethnic Relations in the Country

Turkish foreign policy for many years has been based on the concept of strategic depth formulated by Ahmet Davutoğlu. Nowadays, the concept remains a base of Turkish softpower diplomacy addressed to many countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina. The main sources of the foreign policy are the traditional historical experiences of the Ottoman empire and islamic culture. This article analyzes the Turkish softpower diplomacy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nowadays, Turkey is focusing on the Ottoman past, as well as on the events of the 1990s: the civil war and genocide. By This way Ankara is gaining just Bosnian-muslim community support. The main question is why Turkey is leading the foreign policy in such a way? And what impact does this have on Bosnian contemporary ethnic relations?

Public and cultural diplomacy in European cities and states’ branding

Article “Public and cultural diplomacy in cities’ branding” is a try to set ideas of city diplomacy and idea of branding into theory of international relations. Also, analysis of two West-European and two East-European cities is a chance to analyze chances and threats that both states and cities can encounter during a process of brand building. The main questions that article is answering are “Can cities use their resources and connections to make public and cultural diplomacy?” and “What influence on that process has factor of being a city in post-soviet country or former Soviet Satellite state?” It can be said that cities are able to brand and rebrand itself and they are more flexible than states that cannot run away from some aspects of its identity. In case of difference between western and post-soviet states, the difference is none. In research, numerous rankings, articles and analyses were used as a primary sources in order to characterize how different are images of Italy, Germany, Hungary and Ukraine. Also, paper tries to determine, what is relation between states brand and branding of its cities.