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From the "Island of Freedom" to the Iron Curtain: Rethinking the Role of Soft Power in Soviet-Cuban Educational Exchange Programs
Abstract and Figures
From 1960 to 1991, tens of thousands of Cubans studied in the Soviet Union. This thesis adds nuance to existing theories of soft power by examining Soviet-Cuban educational exchange programs at both the state-to-state and people-to-people levels.
Through an analysis of archival documents, statistical records, and expert testimony, I conclude that the soft power framework as it stands in the literature is insufficient to explain the dynamics of the exchange programs at the state-to-state level. While soft power is a useful lens through which to view the decisions of the Soviet government, it neglects the agency exercised by the Cuban government. The dynamics of Soviet-Cuban educational exchange programs were shaped more by Cuban interests than by Soviet ones.
At the people-to-people level, I analyze interviews with Cuban graduates of Soviet educational institutions to explore the mechanisms by which the exchange programs functioned as a tool of Soviet soft power. I find that Cuban students' perceptions of their host country varied by the time period and location in which they studied. Their experiences were shaped both by the way in which they used Cuba as a reference point and by factors that had a concrete impact on their daily lives. iv
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International exchange programmes have been previously conceptualised based on the ‘opinion leader model’. It expects participants to form positive attitudes towards the host country, and to become influential back home. However, the micro-processes through which this goal can be achieved remain undertheorised. Drawing from Interaction Ritual Theory, this article argues that international exchanges consist of a chain of rituals. They strategically immerse targeted individuals into personal experiences with a shared focus on the host country, transforming the latter into a symbol charged with emotional energy and (strategically devisable) cognitive content. The symbol (now affectively and cognitively laden) is then recurrently invoked to re-circulate through the networks of the participants. A case study of a programme in which the symbol ‘Poland’ became systematically charged with the content of ‘multiculturality’ illustrates this proposition. Practical and theoretical implications (e.g. for the literature on socialisation, norm-diffusion, and face-to-face diplomacy) in international relations are discussed.
This study examines how information technology and mass communication
outlets have been employed as soft power platforms in the Middle East in the aftermath of
9/11/2001. The focus is on Internet access and mobile phone subscriptions to see how their
proliferation has impacted government effectiveness and political stability in MENA nations
from 2004 to 2014. The analysis is centred in the context of increased American investment
in soft power programs in the region with the goal of reducing instability and anti-Western
sentiments. We examine the nature of such investment in relation to information technology
dependence. Understanding that the necessary technology is a product of Western-centric
multinationals, we study the interplay between imports, foreign aid, and foreign direct
investment (FDI), as direct metrics of foreign capital intensity and our explanatory variables
—Internet and mobile technology usage rates. The results suggest that information technology
platforms contribute to improved governance, while foreign aid has a negative impact.
We further examine if increased government effectiveness and stability attracted FDI, as a
representation for a positive outcome of improved governance, and find that such governmental
efficacy was a successful predictor of foreign direct investment growth, while political
stability was not. This article is published as part of a collection on soft power.
This article examines the specifics of Moscow's soft power strategy. The sources of the Kremlin's interest in the soft power concept are explained. The article discusses how the soft power concept fits in the current Russian foreign policy philosophy. Russia's soft power resources, institutions and instruments are described. Special attention is given to the limitations and constraints of Moscow's soft power strategies. The reasons why these strategies are often being inefficient are explained. The Kremlin's inclination to the combination of the soft and hard power strategies is identified.
The aim of this article is to critically assess Joseph Nye’s claims about student exchange programmes by examining the impact of Morocco’s educational relationship with the EU on the kingdom’s political development during and since the Arab Spring. Nye maintains that such schemes are important sources of soft power which Western countries can use to promote their values – including that of democracy – in the societies of the visiting students. Despite tens of thousands of its citizens enrolling in European universities each year, however, Morocco is scarcely any more democratic today than it was when the Arab Spring began. The article considers what the country’s non-democratisation means for the EU’s soft power and this facet of Nye’s thesis.