THE GLOBAL SUCCESS STORY OF JAPAN’S SOFT POWER: DEBATING ‘COOL JAPAN’ AS A MODEL FOR TURKISH SOFT POWER PROJECTION

Abstract

There is an ever-growing scholarly literature on various aspects of the soft power of Turkey as this subject has been among the most popular and widely studied aspects of Turkish Foreign Policy in the early 21st century. Yet, comparative works examining the effectiveness of Turkish soft power versus other notable soft powers are still relatively hard to find. Moreover, there is an even more notable gap in the literature in terms of discussing what exactly enables the strategies of “established soft powers” (e.g. U.S., UK, France, Germany, and Japan) to be more successful than that of Turkey, and to discuss what Turkish policy-makers could possibly learn from these tried and tested methods. In the centennial anniversary of the Republic of Turkey in 2023, the time may have come for the Turkish intelligentsia and government to acknowledge the notable rise of Turkish soft power since the 1990s, but also re-think of the ways in which the current vision could be substantially improved in light of valuable lessons drawn from global soft power success stories such as Japan. In this article, I will argue that the case of Japan proves that soft power is not just a natural outcome of a country’s vast hard power reserves (e.g. economic power in the manner of Gross Domestic Product), but is a phenomenon that could be “designed” – to a large extent – by a government. Furthermore, Japan’s various successful policies such as the ‘Cool Japan’ program and Tokyo’s systematic cultural and economic diplomacy offers valuable blueprints for Turkish soft power to be re-designed in our time.

Keywords

• Japanese soft power
• Cultural diplomacy
• Cool Japan
• Turkish soft power
• Turkish Foreign Policy

JAPONYA’NIN YUMUŞAK GÜCÜNÜN KÜRESEL BAŞARI ÖYKÜSÜ: TÜRKİYE’NİN YUMUŞAK GÜÇ STRATEJİSİ İÇİN BİR MODEL OLARAK ‘COOL JAPONYA’YI TARTIŞMAK

Abstract

İçinde bulunduğumuz erken 21. yüzyılda Türk dış politikasının en popüler ve en çok çalışılan yönlerinden biri Türkiye’nin yumuşak gücünün çeşitli yönleri olduğu için, doğal olarak konu üzerine sürekli genişlemekte olan kapsamlı bir akademik literatür oluşmuştur. Buna rağmen, Türkiye’nin yumuşak gücünü dünyanın diğer hatırı sayılı yumuşak güçleriyle kıyaslamalı olarak ele alan çalışmalar bulmak halen nispeten zordur. Dahası, “büyük yumuşak güçlerin” (örneğin ABD, Birleşik Krallık, Fransa, Almanya ve Japonya) stratejilerinin bu alanda Türkiye’ninkinden daha başarılı olmasını tam olarak neyin mümkün kıldığını tartışmak açısından mevcut literatürde dikkate değer bir boşluk bulunmaktadır. 2023 yılında Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin yüzüncü yıl dönümünde, Türkiye aydınları ve hükümetinin 1990’lardan bu yana ülkenin yumuşak gücünün yükselişini kabul etmeleri, ancak aynı zamanda da mevcut yumuşak güç vizyonunun daha da geliştirilebileceği yolları yeniden düşünme zamanı gelmiş olabilir. Bu bağlamda, Türkiye’ye rehberlik yapmak açısından Japonya gibi küresel yumuşak güç başarı öykülerinden çıkarılacak derslerin değeri ve önemi büyük olacaktır. Bu makalede, Japonya örneğinden yola çıkarak yumuşak gücün yalnızca bir ülkenin geniş “sert güç” rezervlerinin (örneğin Gayri Safi Yurtiçi Hasıla üzerinden ölçülen ekonomik güç) doğal bir sonucu olmadığını, aynı zamanda da – büyük ölçüde bir hükümet tarafından – “tasarlanmış” bir olgu olduğunu iddia edeceğim. Ayrıca Japonya’nın ‘Cool Japonya’ programı ve Tokyo’nun sistematik kültürel ve ekonomik diplomasisi gibi çeşitli başarılı politikalarının günümüzde Türk yumuşak gücünün yeniden tasarlanması için değerli planlar sunduğunu ve bu anlamda Türkiye için çıkarabilecek dersleri tartışacağım.

Keywords

• Japonya’nın yumuşak gücü
• Kültürel diplomasi
• Cool Japonya
• Türkiye’nin yumuşak gücü
• Türk dış politikası

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