In competing with each others,
successful organizations use a great deal of “soft” tools. The same could be
said if we consider countries and their international relations and it was
described as “soft power ” some twenty years ago by Joseph
Nye. It is the ability to obtaining your goals without using “hard”
tools such as money or the military.
The first attempt to measure soft power
was done by Monocle magazine and the Institute
for Government, and their survey is now at the second edition. The IfG-Monocle Soft Power Index considers
items related to society, media, culture, environment, sport, the academic
system, research and development, technologies, reputation, nation brand and
international development and cooperation. Here you
can have a look at the complete report.
Below, I made a comparison between the first ten nations in terms
of GDP, soft power and Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index. The
different rankings offer an interesting view on countries and maybe a starting
point to think about the interrelations between economy, domestic policies,
foreign affairs.
If you are
interested in the role of public relations in public diplomacy, chapter 39 of Sriramesh
and Verčič’s “The
Global Public Relations Handboook” is a must-read.
By Marcello Coppa
Managing
partner, Anteprima LAB, Italy
Global
Affiliate, The Center for Global Public Relations
My friend mentioned to me your blog, so I thought I’d read it for myself. Very interesting insights, will be back for more!
ReplyDeletePublic Relations