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Of mechanisms and myths: Conceptualising states’ “soft power” strategies through sports mega-events

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journal contribution
posted on 2016-07-01, 12:26 authored by Paul Brannagan, Jonathan Grix
Joseph Nye’s concept of ‘Soft Power’ has become an increasingly used term to help explain why states – including so-called ‘emerging states’ – are paying greater attention towards acquiring various forms of cultural and political attraction. However, within mainstream International Relations, Political Science, and Sport Studies literature, a continuous debate remains as to what actually constitutes soft power, how national leaders go about acquiring it, and how forms of attraction convert into power outcomes in both the short- and long-term. This paper endeavours to overcome these issues by offering an ‘Ideal-Type’ model which details states’ soft power strategies, the mechanisms they use, and the tangible future outcomes they gain. The paper is separated into five sections. First the concept of soft power is introduced and its contribution, application and limitations are critically evaluated. Second, crucial background information on the various national authorities engaged with to arrive at the ideal type is offered, along with a discussion of the research methods used. Third, the paper advances an ideal-type model of a state’s soft power strategy, explicitly detailing, in the process, the considerations and rationale behind the design. Fourth, empirical data gathered by the authors around Germany’s hosting of the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Qatar’s acquisition of the 2022 FIFA World Cup is used as ‘test cases’ to show the utility of the ideal-type. The paper concludes by reflecting on the contribution this model makes to current literature and how it could be used in future research.

History

School

  • Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

Published in

Diplomacy & Statecraft

Volume

27

Issue

2

Pages

251 - 272

Citation

BRANNAGAN, P.M. and GRIX, J., 2016. Of mechanisms and myths: Conceptualising states’ “soft power” strategies through sports mega-events. Diplomacy & Statecraft, 27(2), pp. 251-272.

Publisher

© Taylor & Francis

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Acceptance date

2016-05-10

Publication date

2016

Notes

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Diplomacy & Statecraft on 10 May 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09592296.2016.1169791.

Language

  • en

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