This study explores how great powers not allied with the United States formulate their grand strategies in a unipolar international system. Specifically, it analyzes the strategies China and Russia have developed to deal with U.S. hegemony by examining how Moscow and Beijing have responded to American intervention in Central Asia. The study argues that China and Russia have adopted a soft balancing strategy of to indirectly balance the United States at the regional level. This strategy uses normative capabilities such as soft power, alternative institutions and regionalization to offset the overwhelming material hardware of the hegemon. The theoretical and methodological approach of this dissertation is neoclassical realism. Chinese and Russian balancing efforts against the United States are based on their domestic dynamics as well as systemic constraints. Neoclassical realism provides a bridge between the internal characteristics of states and the environment which those states are situated. Because China and Russia do not have the hardware (military or economic power) to directly challenge the United States, they must resort to their software (soft power and norms) to indirectly counter American preferences and set the agenda to obtain their own interests. Neoclassical realism maintains that soft power is an extension of hard power and a reflection of the internal makeup of states. The dissertation uses the heuristic case study method to demonstrate the efficacy of soft balancing. Such case studies help to facilitate theory construction and are not necessarily the demonstrable final say on how states behave under given contexts. Nevertheless, it finds that China and Russia have increased their soft power to counterbalance the United States in certain regions of the world, Central Asia in particular. The conclusion explains how soft balancing can be integrated into the overall balance-of-power framework to explain Chinese and Russian responses to U.S. hegemony. It also suggests that an analysis of norms and soft power should be integrated into the study of grand strategy, including both foreign policy and military doctrine.

Foreign aid is a constantly debated and researched subject. Chinese foreign aid towards Africa and other parts of the world is not without scrutiny. China sees their foreign aid as a tool of soft power, that they use to gain a more positive image and increase cooperation. This study aims to add to the debate through an investigation of how Chinese foreign aid is portrayed in Tanzanian and Kenyan newspapers. The method used to examine newspaper articles in this study is a Critical Discourse Analysis based on Fairclough’s three-dimensional model. The study uses the concept of soft power to analyse different themes found through the CDA. In addition, a comparison between Tanzania and Kenyan newspapers is made.  The findings of this study show a variation of positive and more critical themes in Tanzanian news media while Kenyan news media has themes based on a more critical point of view. The critical themes may show challenges towards Chinese soft power and its strive for a positive image of their foreign aid towards the Tanzanian and Kenyan public. However, how much of a challenge this poses cannot be concluded within this study. As government leaders and heads of states are contributing to uphold a positive image of Chinese aid, particularly in Tanzania this is seen as a positive thing for China’s aim to gain a more attractive image.

This thesis explores the US-based Cuban community through conducting a Quantitative Content Analysis (QCA) on three of the most popular, diasporic newspapers. The manifest content of 30 editorials and other news articles was analysed, utilising deductive reasoning to uncover the presence of soft power. Consequently, the results communicate the diaspora’s support for less coercive measures and policies that welcome increased relations, and often wish to support island-based Cubans. This contradicts the community’s characterisation as a group, who overwhelmingly supports the use of hard power, and wishes to restrict Cuban engagement. This study fits in an underdeveloped area of International Relations (IR) and, therefore, seeks to clarify that the diaspora are not monolithically in favour of hard power policies (that enforce isolation and economic coercion) to achieve its goals. In sum, the study utilises a combined theoretical framework that includes diaspora politics, identity, and soft power to analyse the findings, thus illustrating a frequent presence of soft power throughout many of these diasporic writings.

Although cultural policy and cultural diplomacy are just some of various forms soft power, there is a lack of research between the EU and Morocco despite an increased interest from the EU in various Southern Mediterranean countries. There is a general research gap in the academic world regarding the evaluation the EU’s external cultural policy in Morocco, which this research paper seeks to contribute to fill in the soft power and global context. This paper seeks to examine the role that cultural diplomacy has in the soft power process, specifically with the case of the EU and Morocco.From this research paper it was found that although culture has generally played an increasing role in EU and Morocco relations, when examining EU-Morocco cultural relations pertaining to their soft power potential, it was unveiled that the EU and Morocco are not fully utilizing their soft power abilities in relation to their cultural policy practices. For instance, in relation to EU-Morocco cultural policy there is a distinctive lack in clarity in government objectives which negatively impacts soft power potential. In EU cultural documents, there is also a clear and different role in internal and external relations also affecting cultural relations with Morocco. However, despite these shortcomings, the EU and Morocco continue to build on their relations with future plans to deepen their agreements. It is in the interest of the EU and Morocco to invest and refine their cultural policy in order to fully utilize the cultural opportunities and benefits for both states in these future agreements. The specific benefits and motivations for the EU and Morocco are also discussed. The theoretical outline for this paper involved power, especially Nye’s conception of soft power, along with public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, as well as cultural relations. The focus of analysis of this thesis included EU documents such as, treaties, joint agreements, declarations, conclusions, and so on will be the main source of document analysis for this paper in order to trace the evolution of EU-Morocco cultural policy and relations. Additionally Chodubski’s framework derived from the political science field was used alongside critical political discourse analysis.

The symphonic relationship between the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), a mission conceived as entrusted by God to coordinate their contributions to the society, provides the Russian state with a moral framework and the ROC with the possibility to confirm her spiritual role for the establishment of a Russian Orthodox world. This vision of a new Russian world helps the ROC expand her canonical borders to amend for the fragmentation of the pastoral community after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The category of Orthodox businessmen represents a precious support for creating an influential network of activities of (apparently) cultural and religious content well outside of the post-Soviet territory. This also applies to Greece, given the two countries` historical and religious boundaries. This study will show how political messages can be successfully transferred through images depicting the religious soft power activities of Russian-Greek businessman Ivan Savvidis by analyzing the data through the methods of Visual Grammar. This study found that, by exploiting his Pontic identity and certain cultural values extrapolated through the Visual Grammar to attract the Russian-Greek diaspora in Northern Greece, Ivan Savvidis manages to convey the image of Russia as savior and protector of the Orthodox world, therefore showing the great potential of visuality in Russian religious soft power activities.

This Diploma Thesis is a case study that, on the example of Iraq, examines the development and importance of American public diplomacy in the Middle East. The thesis deals with the revitalization of public diplomacy projects and its budget increase, which started to occur as a result of changes in American foreign policy after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Efforts to renew public diplomacy began to appear during the administration of President George Bush. However, it was his successor, Barack Obama, who became a strong supporter of "soft power" in US foreign policy and who stressed the need to restore credibility of the US in the world and cooperation with the Arab world. This thesis also deals with the development of public diplomacy in Iraq in the context of the war in Iraq, the subsequent American occupation and the increase of sectarian violence and violent extremism. Although Iraq has been the largest recipient of financial support for public diplomacy for several years, the biggest limit of public diplomacy in the country is its inadequate security situation. Based on the analysis of exchange programs between the US and Iraq, the thesis aims to prove that public diplomacy is an important tool for establishing a dialogue with foreign publics.

This thesis focuses on the approach of Slovenia to the promotion of the state abroad. It is a small country with two million inhabitants, suffering from poor visibility and being confused with Slovakia. Slovenia has decided to change this by creating a national brand. Positive perception of a country contributes to economic development of the state. It is also an ideal means by which small states can maximise their influence in the international arena. The thesis describes the gradual development of the national brand and its implementation. The thesis also describes the institutional background, the work being coordinated by the Government Office for Communication. Slovenia has succeeded in creating the brand of a green country with a quality of life for all. For a national brand to be successful, it must be based on real national priorities. In the case of Slovenia, ecology is also part of its domestic and foreign policy priorities. The monitored indicators show that Slovenia's environmental performance varies in different areas. In some areas Slovenia is a leader in the EU, in others, for example in transport, its performance is below average. The work concludes that the label is based on real foundations because some part of environmental policy is effective.

This diploma thesis deals with public diplomacy of France, Great Britain, and Germany in the Czech Republic. Based on the theoretical parts, two models of public diplomacy are formulated. The main criteria for the division of the models are the goals of public diplomacy. The first one is a model of promoting a positive image of a state abroad that is used for improving the image of the state in front of the foreign public. In the case of the second model, states can use the interests of public diplomacy to actively promote the values and views of the state that uses public diplomacy. After the presentation of public diplomacy organisations of the selected states and the historical development of their activities in the Czech Republic, an analysis was performed based on data collected from social networks, websites, and interviews with several representatives of public diplomacy. The practices of British, French, and German public diplomacy were categorized based on the goals mentioned within the official documents, the goals of individual public diplomacy institutions, partners, topics, and the tools they use to work the topics. Based on the analysis, none of the public diplomacy of the selected countries operating in the Czech Republic can be assigned a model of promoting values.

The purpose of this essay is to explore China's foreign policy through Joseph S. Nye's theory of power applied on the Belt and Road Initiative. It aims to answer whether or not China's foreign policy has changed during Xi Jinping's presidency and in what way Belt and Road Initiative can be explained in terms of power behaviour and power resources. The method used in this essay is that of a case study. The empirical evidence shows that China's foreign policy has changed in a direction that is meant to strengthen Xi Jinping's influence and that Belt and Road Initiative is a project with the intention to accumulate economic resources. It also shows that China's government and domestic policies weakens its "soft power" resources due to restraints in its civil society.  The essayc concludes that the Belt and Road Initiative is China and Xi Jinping's expansion strategy whose main objective is to create incentives for Chinese domestic, economic growth. It also concludes that Chinese "soft power" would increase if the domestic policies would aim for a more democratic course.

This study intends to examine China’s use of religious violence and antiterrorism when constructing a narrative of the situation in Xinjiang. While the tensions in Xinjiang are not a new occurrence, their intensity has undoubtedly increased. Human Rights Watch has described it as a “cultural genocide” and several international actors have condemned Chinas treatment of the minority group Uyghurs. While China seems to portray the tensions as a result of several acts of religious terror, there are traces of a more complicated conflict. Furthermore, the study shows that the conflict was rarely described as the result of terrorism before the September 11 terrorist attacks, despite the conflict starting in the early 1990s. At the same time, researchers have claimed that Islamic fundamentalists have been adopted as something of a global antagonist, and the fear of religious violence has been recognized as a threat that needs to be stopped, even if it demands more violence. Thus, this study is concerned with studying how this has been acknowledged in a global setting and used by global actors as a strategic tool to vindicate controversial actions. The study illustrates how religious violence and antiterrorism have been used in the creation of a strategic narrative by China. Strategic narratives have been described as the soft power in the 21st century and a well-suited methodological tool to form a deeper understanding of soft power in international relations. The study is done through a text- and narrative analysis of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ testimony of Xinjiang. The results show that extremist religion and terrorists have been pointed out as a main threat in Xinjiang, while separatist also has been linked to these two. By doing this China has managed to acknowledge its measures against the Uyghur separatist movement as a part of the global war against terror.