Re-thinking soft power: China, Russia and the European Union in Central Asia

Abstract

This paper seeks to bring the concept of soft power into the spotlight and to provoke discussion about its application and relevance to China, Russia, and the European Union in the context of their respective approaches to the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The region offers up a viable test-bed to consider the roles of these three external actors. The paper also hopes to initiate discussion about the theoretical and conceptual implications of viewing China and Russia as Soft Powers given that the basic assumptions behind existing research is that soft power is intimately tied to the promotion of democracy, liberalism and ultimately the spreading of Western values. By way of a conclusion, the paper will attempt to bring some clarity to core questions about the relevance of soft power research and to then map out how a future research agenda might be developed, especially in relation to non-Western powers.