CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2015
| Author | Gurbanmyradova, Diana Chariyevna |
|---|---|
| Title | The sources of China's soft power in Central Asia: cultural diplomacy |
| Summary | With the collapse of the Soviet Union China’s involvement in Central Asia has increased. The level of Chinese engagement in Central Asia covers many spheres of interactions: from multilateral cooperation in regional security issues under the framework of Shanghai Cooperation Organization to bilateral and economic cooperation in energy and trade. However, while Central Asian leaders and many western experts credit China for economic benefits that it brings to the region, local experts and residents remain skeptical about the benefits that this close relationship with Beijing might bring. As the result, there is a perceived threat about the growing Chinese influence in Central Asia. In order to address the local fears, China has increased its soft power in the region. This thesis adopts Janice Mattern’s understanding of soft power, as an inter-subjective experience. By examining China’s concept of soft power and empirical data, the thesis highlights that China’s understanding of soft power is subjectively based. Therefore, I argue that despite the fact that China consistently aims to enhance its soft power to combat its perceived threat perception in Central Asia, its attempts are limited because China has a subjective understating of soft power that ignores the Central Asian side. |
| Supervisor | Bernardo Teles Fazendeiro |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2015/gurbanmyradova_diana.pdf |
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