Nation Branding: A Tool Of Soft Power

Nation Branding A Tool Of Soft PowerNations have always c atomic number 18d more than or less their image, but in recent years angiotensin-converting enzyme witnessed a turning point in methods used by states to build and manage their reputation. In this succession of globalization the serviceman is more and more becoming a gigantic stage on which countries have to compete for all types of resources in order to enhance, and raise their outside(a) profile. In light of this, nation filthing holds a vital key to win this world contest. Though, it draws heavily from the trade and public relations realms, this notion is increasingly pertaining the sphere of external relations as states ar using it as a nib to reach their desired international take aways. In light of this, the aim of this essay will be to evaluate the relatively new concept of nation brand in the context of blue-blooded force play in international relations. It will reason that there is close link surrou nded by soft power and nation mark, since the latter if d matchless force-outively throne enhance a nation soft power and consequently winning the hearts and minds of overseas audiences. The second part of the essay will then attempt to shed lead on to what extent can state mark can fit within the theories of IR and the eventual implications it can have on the conduct of foreign policy.Soft power, a term that is increasingly used in discourses of international relations, was coined by Joseph Nye who is amongst the most prominent theorists within the Neoliberal theory, to define co-optive power in contrast to the traditional hard power related to the military and economic might. Soft power is conceptualized as the ability to get what you want through leader rather than coercion or payments. It arises from the attractiveness of a democracys culture, political creative thinkerls, and policies (Nye, 2004). Soft power blossomed after the end of the cold war. Definitely, due to globalization and communication the engagement of soft power is becoming more important. In position, in light of this Nye states that, Winning hearts and minds has always been important, but it is even more so in a global information age. Information is power, and modern information technology is spreading information more widely than ever before in memoir (Nye 2004).Though the concept of soft power was put forth by Nye in recent decades, it could besides be seen in previous works frequently(prenominal) that of Hans J. Morgenthau, Klaus Knorr and Ray Cline (Fan, 2008). Soft power rests on the ability of shaping the preferences of others. Hence, such arguments insist that a nation may address and reach its desired outcomes on the global stage, due to the fact that other states admire its values, imitate its example and seek to reach its level of prosperity and openness. Therefore, it is a significant asset in influencing others, not by using hard military power, but by the abi lity to attract, which goes beyond fascinate or persuasion (Nye, 2004).Nye states that soft power relies on primarily three resources the attractiveness of its culture, the appeal of its domestic political and social values, and the style and substance of its foreign policies (Nye, 2004). Due to such factors soft power is intangible asset and tough to measure and control. Through such power, nations argon able to cultivate specific relations with the other states particularly culturally and economically which eventually solution in a better and more favorable public opinion and credibility in the outside world. An interesting aspect is that soft power in contrast to hard power is not controlled entirely by the political sympathies but non-state actors can also have a contribution to it.As previously discussed, soft powers most particular and important asset is the ability to attain desirable outcomes without involving any type of force. In todays world, many nations around the globe are suffering from bad image problems which lead nations to embark on initiatives such as nation branding. Image problems are driven by both inwrought policies and events taking station in the political, economical and social landscape, and also due to certain stereotypes that pull through on the external side. Cases in point are the nations of Greece, Spain and Italy which are under investigation in my dissertation. In fact such countries, particularly Greece has currently its image into a storm due to the economic crisis. Apart from that, as in the case of Spain and Italy it suffers from certain stereotypes associated with countries located in the Mediterranean basin. Hence, in order to overcome negative perceptions or turn their potentials into reality countries embark on initiatives such as nation branding.The practice and theoretical conceptualization of nation branding its still in its infancy, although it must be noted that some researches (e.g. Olins 2002) argue th at countries have always branded themselves throughout history. Nation Branding is more or less applying branding and marketing communications techniques to promote a nations image (Fan 2008). In the marketing field a brand is understood how what a customer thinks about a certain product. On the other hand, the brand state circulates around the idea of how the outside world views a particular country. Hence, this makes nation branding a crossroad between the world of public relations and marketing and international relations.If one looks at the main definition of nation branding, one finds an array of differences in the focus and purpose of nation branding. Fan (2008) made a close interrogatory of the major definitions. Fans (2008) evaluations show that nation branding is about remolding the national identities (Olins, 1999), enhance nations competitiveness (Anholt 2007), embrace political, cultural, business and sports activities (Jaffe and Nebenzahl, 2001), promoting economic a nd political interests at home and foreign (Rendon and Szondi, 2003) and to altering, improving or enhancing a nations image/ reputation (Gudjossan, 2005).In less theoretical words, nation branding is about building and managing the reputation of a country. Hence, this concept allows nations to better control the image they project to the world, and therefore be able to attract and compete for the right kinds of available resources. Consequently, by this process a nation hopes to boost its international profile in a globalized world where every country has to compete with every other nation for the share of income, power, voice and influence. In fact, nations engage in branding primarily in order to attract tourists, investment, boost exports, restore international credibility and ratings, increase political influence, stimulate stronger international relations, combat negative national stereotypes and enhance nation building by nourishing confidence, pride, harmony and national re solve (Dinnie 2008). Thus, a positive nation brand provides a crucial competitive advantage in contrast to a bad image which hinders the states competitiveness in the global arena.As Van overplay (2008) states, similar to Nyes soft power resources, a countrys brand is squared by its culture, political ideals, and policies. There are three key components in nation branding, or in other words, a nations brand consists of three sub-brands political brand, economic brand and cultural brand (Fan, 2008). Such arguments illustrate that nation branding and soft power are certainly two concepts linked.Backing this argument is the nation brand hexagon developed by Anholt in which there six main factors that determine a brand which are tourism, governance, exports, investment and immigrations, culture and heritage and the citizens. Hence, such six factors fall under the three main categories previously mentioned. Evidently, these are also the sources associated with the conduction of soft po wer.Certainly, nation branding falls under a wide umbrella of postmodern power where soft power and public fineness are also located. Van Ham (2008) argues that in academic discourse on soft power, the concept of nation branding has now acquired a present which is still somewhat awkward. Definitely, when one evaluates nation branding within the context of soft power in IR, one has to look also to the links and differences that exist between nation branding and public airiness. This is due to the fact that public diplomacy has much more theoretical backing of rich as one of the main soft power tools in IR. For example Melissen states that they are complimentary tools with the practice of branding a nation involves a much greater and integrated effort than public diplomacy (Melissen 2005). On the other hand Szondi argues that both practices can be seen as distinct but overlapping concepts in that they are oriented toward the same purpose of branding a nation but as different tools in this endeavor (Szondi 2008). Anholt argue that public diplomacy is a subset of nation branding. In Anholts arguments nation branding is how a nation represents as whole itself, whilst public diplomacy is exclusively concentrated on the presentation of government policies, hence the political subset of nation branding.Nevertheless, one must keep in mind governments are assumed to represent the people of a nation, and therefore, there is no getting away from the fact that nation branding is a tallly politicized activity (Dinnie, 2007). It must be noted, that the main link between public diplomacy and nation branding is that both concepts aim at the same outcome wining the hearts and minds to create a favorable image of the country.Though it is beyond the chain of mountains of this assignment to evaluate in detail the links and difference between nation branding and public diplomacy, it is interesting to have a glance between these tools through the table below Table 1Table 1 M ain differences between Public diplomacy and Nation BrandingPublic diplomatic negotiationsNation BrandingGoalPromoting political interestPromoting (mainly) economic related interests.ContextHighly politicized and change according to government. Driven mainly by IR and cultureMay be de-politicized. Driven by marketing and public relationsTargetTargeted at key countriesTargeted more universal, applicable to nay countryDirectionForeign publicBoth foreign and domestic audienceStrategiesRelationship building, more focus on substance and contentImage management, emphasis on visual and symbolic elementsEvaluationShort, middle and long termMostly long-termDefinitely, as previously mentioned nation branding has very much in common with the values and issues related to soft power in IR. Fan (2008) states that nation branding can be an important asset in the development of soft power of a nation. Apart from that, a successful nation branding campaign will help create a more favourable imag e among the international audience thus further enhancing a countrys soft power. Hence, state branding is extensively seen as a vital tool to win over the hearts and minds of foreign audiences and persuade them that their brand is competitive.Bringing, Nyes arguments into light, one finds that reputation is a crucial part in the soft power of a country. This is due to the fact that reputation expresses the total impressions of other soft power recourses, such as for example how culture is perceived in the world. As in the case of soft power, nation branding initiatives are also built on credibility and reputation and determined by the nations culture, political ideals and policies. (Van Ham 2008)In light of the increasing rise of nation branding, a daunting question is what is the implication of such a concept on international affairs? star wishs to evaluate to what extent established theories of international relations have the right theoretical tools to shed light on this new co ncept that is pertaining the world of international relations. Van Ham (2008) states that The international relations theory of constructivism sheds some light on the functioning of place branding, whereas classical political science tools weaken to come to terms with its implications for international politics. Such argument is made in the light of the fact that nation branding, as part of soft power revolve around factors such as values, norms and ideas in international relations. Hence, this is on the same lines of the IR constructivists theory since constructivist explanations of international politics define the global system of rules as a set of ideas, a body of thought, a system of norms, which has been arranged by certain people at a particular time and place (Jackson and Sorrenson 2006). Constructivism assumes that the selves, or identities, of states are a variable they likely depend on historical, cultural, political, and social context (Hopf 1998, 176). Hence, such arg uments are extremely relevant for nation branding since the latter assume that identities are contextual and malleable (Van Ham 2008).Other traditional tools such as realism may find it more difficult to evaluate the rise of nation branding within the field of international relations. Realists are focused on a system of anarchy and balance of power in IR. First, they may find arguments about the relevance of public diplomacy and state branding as trivial and frivolous. (Van Ham, 2008). Apart from that, for realists, states in the international system pursue their egoistic self interest. Hence, regarding nation branding though, this can be a good initiative as such from the viewpoint of neorealism in that it can affect a states economic strength positively and thereby increasing its power and security.Apart from evaluating the implications of nation branding to the schools of IR, its also interesting to investigate the effect of this initiative on foreign policies the real IR world. As Anholt argues, applying nation branding techniques in foreign policies can be a dangerous initiative. Governments need to have a real sense and organized way of what are doing since they can fall their own victims if a brand is found not be credible or it is misleading. Apart from that, developing countries which are in need to brand themselves may use financial resources in branding efforts at the get down of more tangible needed reforms. Nation branding techniques can also backfire. This is highly illustrated with the case of Greece when it hosted the 2004 Olympics in Athens. The political, economic and international standing of Greece were at high levels, however none of government officials or departments took the task to develop the international profile of Hellas (Cromwell, T Kyriacou 2005)In light of the discussed arguments, one could assume that nation branding is inextricably linked with public diplomacy under the wider spectrum of the concept of soft power. However, as in contrast to traditional soft power tools such as public diplomacy, it makes explicit use of marketing and public relations techniques to reach its aims. Definitely, a new game in international politics is emerging about image and reputation. Nation branding provides the state a useful soft power approach in order to create its desired international influence in the international arena. As regards international relations discourses, nation branding is found most at home within the social constructivism theory. This is due to the fact that nation branding revolves around issues such as values, norms. With the increase use of soft power and the ever-increasing competition amongst states, nation branding will continue to accomplish ground as a concept, whilst further investigation in the IR field need to further developed in order give a better insight on the place nation branding have in the political sphere.