The criticism of the universal expression of soft power from the point of view of a small state

Abstract

Globalization and the development of information technology strongly influence international politics and relations, increasingly transforming them according to the determinants of hard and soft power. This imposed and simplified binary context of the capability of states to influence others is the subject of discussions with a pronounced tendency to establish as clear a dichotomy as possible and a sharp division into hard and soft power. Attempts at quantitative and qualitative measurements of complex social indicators of soft power, however, are met with reasoned critical reviews. The validity of the criticism of measuring soft power is based on the author's subjectivity, the narrow niche of delegated indicators, the selective and subjective choice of determinants, etc. The main hypothesis of the paper is based on the premise of non-linearity of the overall development of states and the imposed division into the powerful and weak. The criticism is based on the defined criteria that have been imposed by the "leaders" of opinion, powerful and influential states, which project them in accordance with their potential and achieve soft power at the same time. By analysing the theoretical framework of the interpretation of the phenomenon of soft power, the paper contributes to the establishment of its correlation with the factors of hard power. Moreover, by analysing the results of earlier research, by comparison, as well as by modelling, it contributes to the criticism of the sustainability of the universal approach to soft power. Furthermore, by critically considering the existing implemented methods of measuring soft power, with the summary of the proposed wider, more objective models, the paper provides a contribution to the basics of the projection of the soft power of a small state.