Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Kılıçdaroğlu K. (Yürütücü), Demir E.
TÜBİTAK Uluslararası İkili İşbirliği Projesi, 2022 - 2024
Soft Power in
Comparative Perspective: cases of Turkey and South Korea
i)
Scientific/Technological
Excellence
In International
Relations, soft power briefly means a state’s ability to shape the preferences
of other states without using the sources of hard power (military and economic
power). Recently, both Turkey and South Korea have been developing their soft
powers through global culture productions and active foreign policies. This
research aims to answer the following questions: how these countries developed soft power and how these countries can
cooperate for improving soft power capacities in a third region/country? For
answering these questions, a two-phased research between Turkey and South Korea
will be made.
Existing literature
on soft power has two major weaknesses. First, there is a scarcity on
comparative research regarding soft power. Although there are some comparisons,
research mostly focus on comparisons among major powers and comparisons are
made at the regional level (such as Asia or Europe). Second, existing
literature focus on Western-Western and Western-Non-Western comparisons.
However, a comparison on two non-Western countries has not been done yet. Since
soft power is a Western concept, application of this concept on two non-Western
countries will increase the curiosity on such research. In addition, this
project aims to offer a collaboration between two countries in a third country,
which will be useful for the policymakers for the future initiatives.
ii)
Methodology
Methodologically,
most similar systems design is employed in this qualitative research. Turkey
and South Korea have significant similarities for this research such as being
middle powers and non-Western states. Regarding data collection, in-depth elite
interviews will be the most significant data of this research. In-depth
interviews will provide detailed information on the two countries’ strategies
on soft power development. A total of 40 interviews are planned for this
project: 15 from Turkey, 15 from South Korea and 10 interviews from Kazakhstan.
In addition to in-depth interviews, newspaper articles (archive research),
national statistics and existing research on the related literature will be
used.
In order to carry
out the project, a total of four experts and two graduate students from the two
countries will be assigned. The graduate students will be responsible from
archival research and collection of secondary data. Experts will carry out the
field research as well as in-depth interviews. The project coordinator will be
in charge of research in general and control every step of the project.
iii)
Project Management
This project
consists of two phases. In the first phase, historical development of Turkey’s
and South Korea’s soft power will be analyzed. After this first phase is
completed, in its second phase, the project will study how Turkey and South
Korea can cooperate on their soft power building efforts in Central Asia by
particularly focusing on Kazakhstan.
iv)
Importance of International
Collaboration
International
collaboration is a necessity for this
research. The expertise and research experience of the researchers from Turkey
and South Korea will provide a detailed and well-researched comparison on the
two countries’ soft power strategies. To overcome linguistic and cultural
differences and to benefit from each sides’ academic experiences and links with
respective bureaucracies in their own countries, Turkish and South Korean side
will collaborate in field research. This will help the researchers to evaluate
the existing state and potential of both countries’ soft power capacity. After
the first stage, in which an analysis and a comparison of two countries’ soft
power capacities will be made, soft power cooperation potential of Turkey and
South Korea in Central Asia will be analyzed. The two sides’ expertise and
perception of the issue at hand will enable the project to analyze the
comprehensive cooperation potential of two countries and to offer policy
recommendations for the ruling elite of both countries.
v)
Impact
This project will
make a significant contribution to soft power iterature in the International
Relations field. Our goal is to publish at least two academic publications (Web
of Science/ULAKBIM/KCI). The project will also contribute to the academic
development of two project assistants (graduate students – master’s degree
level). In addition to its contribution in the academic field, this research
aims to provide policy recommendations to the two countries’ ministries of
Foreign Affairs and Culture and Tourism. At the end of the project, a policy
proposal booklet will be published and a presentation of the research findings
will be made to the members of ministries, academy and civil society
organizations interested in the topic.