CHINESE CULTURAL SOFT POWER: A CASE STUDY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Ljiljana STEVIĆ (Ljiljana Stevic, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Philology, University of Banja Luka), ljiljana.stevic@unibl.org

This paper analyses the impact of Chinese public diplomacy and soft power (cultural soft power) on the public perception in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We have tested the three specific images China aims to project in Bosnia-Herzegovina: China as an ancient civilization, a leader of the developing countries and a responsible partner in the international community. We will see whether cultural soft power, applied by means of Confucius Institutes, academic exchange programs and think tanks, has an impact on the public perception in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first part tackles the theoretical framework of public diplomacy, soft power and cultural diplomacy. The second part delineates the institutional, diplomatic and regulative framework of soft power and introduces the stakeholders, i.e. academic exchange and Confucius Institutes. The final part analyzes the survey and interviews and presents the results as to how these various public diplomacy tools are shaping the perception of China in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The paper concludes by arguing that Chinese public diplomacy produces soft power in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is in turn positively perceived.

Keywords: cultural soft power, public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, state image, Confucius Institutes, academic exchange