‍Central Asia and The Caucasus Journal

Abstract In the era of globalization, national branding at the international level carries great significance, as it can create a strategic competitive advantage in interactions with other states. Sputnik news agency, functioning as one of the instruments of Russia’s public diplomacy on the international stage and operating in multiple languages, has attracted a substantial Persian-speaking audience to its Persian-language platforms. In this context, the twelve-day war of aggression against Iran provided a suitable opportunity for Sputnik to pursue activities aimed at promoting Russia’s national brand and influencing Iranian public opinion in that direction. Using content analysis combined with thematic-network analysis, this study sought to answer the question: what public-diplomacy strategies did the Telegram channel of the state media outlet Sputnik Iran employ for Russia’s national branding among Persian-speaking audiences during the period of the war? Ultimately, five overarching themes related to Russia’s branding were identified in the messages of this state channel: Russia as civilized; Russia as rational and moderate; Russia’s power; the robust relations between Iran and Russia; and the West’s efforts to preserve its hegemony. These pervasive themes are interpreted as part of Russia’s “othering” of the West and the United States and as an attempt to reinforce Russia’s soft power.

Abstract China's growing need for global energy resources has made this country pay special attention to the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf and the world's largest energy producers. In this regard, the representation of a positive image of Beijing in the eyes of rulers and Arab societies is one of the requirements for the expansion of political, economic, and social relations. This issue can strengthen Beijing's influence and position in the Middle East. On the other hand, Arab politicians, to maintain their legitimacy and present a positive image of Arab countries as developing advanced, and prosperous nations, need to attract large investments from powerful countries such as China in the field of digital infrastructures and social media platforms. This research aims to answer the question of what effect China's digital diplomacy towards Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has had on the development process of this country's relations with Saudi Arabia and the UAE and whether this diplomacy has improved the relations between these two countries with China or not. The results of this study suggest that with the beginning of China's focus on the need to enter the Middle East to take advantage of investment opportunities and huge resources, and China's understanding of this to present a positive and peaceful image of itself by using digital diplomacy to expand its influence in this region, China's relations with the mentioned countries have expanded significantly. These relations have been progressing despite the stonewalling of the West and the United States. This is largely due to China's digital diplomacy. The present paper is a descriptive analysis using the documentary and library resources. .

Abstract In the era of globalization, which has been accompanied by evident changes in international system, the importance of non-governmental players has been increasing and public diplomacy has turned into one of the most important types of diplomacy which has been the implications of the increasing importance of the role of public opinion in international affairs. Japan has been one of the countries which have been using public diplomacy as a means for creating a positive image for the country. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of Central Asian countries, the expansion of Japan’s relations with mentioned countries has become more important due to the region’s strategic position and rich oil, gas, rare metal, and uranium resources. Through soft power and presenting a positive image of the country, Japan has become a successful model for the development of Central Asian countries and has penetrated into the heart and mind of the Central Asian people and politicians. In the present research, we have analyzed the elements of Japan’s public diplomacy in Central Asian countries. The main question of the research states: why Japan’s approach in Central Asia has been based on enhancing public diplomacy and maximum exploitation of soft power geocultural competition with China and Russia? Answering this question, we can say that while China has been focused on economic dimension and Russia has been focused on security dimension, Japan has tried to enter this strategic region by relying on its soft power attractions and has been seeking to become a cultural power. Japan influenced the public opinion of these countries through three key components of cultural diplomacy, scientific and educational diplomacy, and providing developmental helps. The research method of this research is descriptive-analytical.

Abstract Using diplomacy has been always of great significance for great and regional powers in order to affect other countries. Meanwhile, public diplomacy is considered as one of the most practical types of diplomacy due to its dynamic and transforming nature. In the last decade, the Republic of Turkey has entered into the sphere and tried, on the basis of his capabilities, to promote its influence in peripheral areas. The main purpose of the present paper is to address this question: “what are the means and basis of Turkey’s public diplomacy in the peripheral areas?” The hypothesis of the research states that Turkey, especially from 2010 inwards, has used a variety of its public diplomacy tools with regards to short, medium, and long term priorities. This country has exploited its media and cyber capacities for short-term, its public relations, companies, NGOs and diaspora for medium-term, and its cultural and branding diplomacy for long-term priorities. .

Abstract Public diplomacy has always been an important tool in the foreign policy of the Russian Federation, before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. From the beginning of its establishment in the 1920s, and with the aim of interacting and influencing the peoples of other countries, the Socialist Soviet Union pursued public diplomacy in parallel with official diplomacy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation sought to reform and create new structures to revive its public diplomacy. Considering the fact that New Russia's strategies in public diplomacy and digital diplomacy are more broader and diverse than the Soviet era’s, the authors examine the question of what are the prominent features of the Soviet Union and the new Russia’s public diplomacy. The present article hypothesizes that Soviet public diplomacy was largely world-centered and ideological, while the approach of modern Russia has been more cultural and Russian-oriented. From the 1917 to 1990, the Soviet Union was a major player in the application of public diplomacy in the world arena, especially in the nations under its political axis. But after its collapse, Russia's main focus has been on its cultural-historical geography to advance public diplomacy and digital diplomacy. This article tries to analyze the question of the article in the framework of theoretical discourse of public diplomacy by using descriptive-analytical method.

Abstract After the AKP's rise to power, political reforms increased the power of Turkey in the international arena, and this led Turkey to enter into the circle of soft power players in regional and international arenas. Taking this into account, the present paper aims to investigate public diplomacy and soft power components of Turkey. And, in the next step, this research intends to analyze Turkey’s soft power policy in Central Asia and South Caucasus. The authors of the article aim to assess the public diplomacy and soft power components in Turkey’s foreign policy in Central Asia and South Caucasus. This study hypothesizes that Turkey’s soft power and its public diplomacy have been founded on three components of language, common history, and economics which, due to development, have been transformed into multi-dimensional acts. Now considering this finding, Turkey demands to be transformed into an influential regional power in competition with other regional powers. In this case, Turkey has achieved some success over the last two decades and created a positive image. Hence, Turkey is determined to strengthen her epistemological foundations of native culture, generalize values, and send her knowledge and attitudes beyond geographical borders. To do so, it employs soft diplomacy and the power of satisfaction. The applied research methodology is the analytic-descriptive one.