The phenomenon of nation branding has increased its popularity within scholars from different disciplines within the past decade. Moreover, the practice of nation branding has gained a significant role in countries’ foreign politics. However, the number of studies within the field of communication and media is lacking. The phenomenon of nation branding is usually researched from economic or political point of views. This thesis connects communication, media, marketing, and politics by examining nation branding as a tool of soft power. It aims to point out how desired meanings are constructed by using visual communication tools to create a favorable image for a country. The visual approach was chosen to be examined as it is more challenging to transfer messages through visual means than using spoken language. Two countries, Finland, and South Korea, were chosen as case studies due to their different nation branding strategies and international rankings. Their promotional videos were analyzed by using qualitative empirical descriptive method by utilizing tools provided by multimodal critical discourse analysis. The descriptive analytical method was chosen as the videos are meant as promotional materials which use over simplified narrative methods so that viewer could understand them easily. The concepts of nation, nation branding, discourse, ideology, soft power, public diplomacy, media, visual communication, and power were used as a theoretical framework. The study shows how discourse is constructed using visual representations as well as what kind of values can be transferred by using visual communication tools to influence on the foreign audience’s perceptions of the country.

This research analyzes why diplomacy is failing in the Dominican Republic. In this thesis, I describe how Dominicans construct their foreign affairs, and the limitations that diplomacy has had in the country. In order to achieve these goals, I have analyzed official documents such as the 2013 and 2015 payrolls of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and legal documents including Article 146 from the Constitution, Organic Law 314 from 1964, and the Protocol of Transparency and Institutions. I argue that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Dominican Republic lacks seriousness and is characterized by the following variables: (1) patronage, (2) corruption, and (3) the systematic violation of Dominican law. The thesis emphasizes how these variables have had a tremendous impact on the exercise of diplomacy. The research analyzes the reaction of the Dominican state and its citizens and how the nation responds to criticisms by the international community. Dominican citizens think that the opinion of international media is a campaign against their country. The implications of this false public perception is an intense nationalism, and the government encourages this. The true problem, as this thesis demonstrates, is institutional weakness. The government uses intense and widespread nationalism to hide institutional weakness and state corruption. After exploring this dialogue between the government, citizens and international media, I move forward framing concepts such as soft power and new public diplomacy to reinforce the importance of listening to foreign publics. In addition I explain why the country needs to change the traditional approach to foreign affairs. The adoption of a new public diplomacy is required to establish credibility and the integration between state, citizens and international publics.

This case study traced the American reaction to Chinese activities in Africa from the year 2000 to the present. Two keys to understanding how this reaction might unfold were power-transition theory, which predicts that rising states will challenge the hegemon in an international system in order to revise the rules, and status-based competition theories. The U.S. appeared delayed in reacting to competition in Africa from its rising challenger there, China, until it understood that competition to be status-based. A clear, progressive reaction on the part of American leaders was traced. First, there was a split between the reactions of members of Congress and diplomats on-the-ground, who were concerned about China in Africa around the year 2005, and leaders in the White House and State Department, who publicly denied there was any kind of problem. White House and State Department leaders’ reaction then grew somewhat as relative gains concerns were activated by economic and power losses in Africa. These leaders then engaged in quiet diplomacy with China and Africa, perhaps to try to socialize China and to moderate its less favorable activities. The U.S. at this time did not seem to be fully aware of the status threat China was presenting. However, in about 2011, the U.S. appears to have begun to perceive the status losses it had sustained in Africa. Through policy changes, discourse, summitry and public diplomacy, including social media, leaders launched what appeared to be a public campaign, designed to position the U.S. as opposed to the values of China, and as a better partner for Africans. This can be seen as status competition because the U.S. had little to gain economically in Africa and its domestic public remained unconcerned with Africa. Loss of status appears to have motivated the U.S. to take action when nothing else had, inspiring policy changes vis-a-vis Africa, the first-ever U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, two presidential trips to Africa, and a public diplomacy campaign designed to showcase American strengths.

Increased international competitiveness to host sport mega-events indicates their perceived value in stimulating regional and national economic, social and cultural development. In the context of broader governmental public opinion management strategies, sport mega-events hold the potential to mobilize soft power resources of the host country, expressed in values, culture and policies, and engage with and influence the publics of other countries. This thesis investigates the significance of sport mega-events for the host country’s public diplomacy strategies and practice by exploring the concepts of public diplomacy, sport mega-events, soft power and national image within a multi-disciplinary conceptual framework. The analysis of scholarly literature, official and media reports reveals how aspects of reputation, credibility, and legitimacy guide both foreign public opinion and the practice of public diplomacy in conjunction with sport mega-events. Moreover, international reputation of the host nation, including status, prestige and image, appeared to benefit the most as a result of strategic application of sport mega-events to public diplomacy. This can be achieved by proving functional reputation though demonstration of financial and organizational success. Alternatively, social reputation of the host is at risk of sustaining considerable damage as a result of resistance from social activists groups, thus requiring extensive damage control efforts of the host country's image. The conclusions drawn from this study raise significant questions about the potential of sport mega-events being effectively used for public diplomacy and the experience of the host governments, revealing functional competence as having the greatest potential to influence public diplomacy strategy built around hosting sport mega-events.

The Master's Thesis introduces the definition and scope of term public diplomacy and deals with its dimensions, types and implications. The second chapter describes the system of public diplomacy in the Czech Republic. In particular emphasis is put on actors that participate in public diplomacy, the instruments they dispose of and the strategy they follow. The evaluation of the functionality of Czech public diplomacy system is made based on results of questionnaire which was distributed among foreigners.

Recently, Spain has been paying particular attention to its presentation abroad and national image, taking into consideration the conceptual as well as financial and personnel point of view. The thesis analyses three different components that form the national image - cultural diplomacy, public diplomacy and nation branding - and puts them into the Spanish context. Furthermore, it identifies the main actors in these areas of Spain's foreign policy and examines their working methods. The thesis also presents the national project Marca Espana (Brand Spain) with both its benefits and weak points. In addition, it evaluates the overall Spanish approach to the formation of its national reputation and suggests possible future improvements.

The aim of this thesis is to introduce the elements and tools of public diplomacy of Spain in the Czech Republic. For this purpose, the text represents actors, which are involved in building the reputation of Spain, and government concept Marca Espana, which substantially affects a strategy presentation abroad. The thesis will focus attention not only on specific projects that Spain presents, but also monitors the use of new technologies when communicating with the Czech public. The compiled topic is founded on the study of scientific literature dealing with public diplomacy, and the subsequent application of a particular case. This thesis also examines how cooperation works between the various governmental departments in Madrid and among actors in the Czech Republic. Based on this analysis, the author concludes that the Spanish public diplomacy activities in the Czech Republic primarily have a cultural character and are presented through new media, which proves that the Spanish agenda is able to adapt flexibly to new trends in diplomacy. The main contribution of this thesis is a comprehensive presentation of all the actors of the Spanish public diplomacy and its activities, that are still deficient in wider attention in the Czech Republic.

Diploma thesis "Czech Cultural Diplomacy in Italy" is build on the project entitled "The Analysis of activities of Czech Centre Milano" which was written based on the author's experience obtained during the four-month internship in Czech Centre Milano - the main protagonist of Czech cultural diplomacy in Italy. The first part of the thesis focuses on the concepts of public diplomacy, nation branding, but primarily on cultural diplomacy. These terms are explained, compared to each other and set in historical context. In the theoretical part of the thesis, the author also focuses on the main protagonists of Czech cultural diplomacy, primarily on Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and its departments. Theoretical knowledge of the cultural diplomacy acquired in the first part of the thesis was used for creating the second part of the thesis, which already focuses specifically on the effectiveness of Czech cultural diplomacy in Italy. The author set up a hypothesis saying that the "Czech culture is perceived positively in Italy because Czech Republic is actively and successfully engaged in the field of cultural diplomacy on Italian territory". This statement would be confirmed/disproved by analysing the current situation in the Czech Centre Milano and by the success or failure of the Czech participation at EXPO 2015 Milan. Whether Italian citizens themselves perceive Czech culture positively and Czech cultural diplomacy to be successful would come up from the information obtained from Nation Brand Index by Simon Anholt and from the results of author-made survey entitled "Czech culture in the eyes of Italians". Valuable opinion on the effectiveness of Czech cultural diplomacy was also provided by the person who directly influences the activities in the field of Czech cultural diplomacy in Italy - the director's assistant of Czech Centre Milano.

The cultural diplomacy represents a crucial tool how to promote the state abroad. Currently the cultural diplomacy becomes more important and plays a significant part in foreign policy. This master thesis studies a potential strategy of cultural diplomacy on the european level and aims especially at the activities of EUNIC Global.

Soft power is one of the most emphasized concepts of current international relations. Russia still plays a significant role, however, russian soft power still has its limits. This thesis studies particular sources of russian soft power and refers to its deficiencies.