Nation brand management in political contexts [Elektronische Ressource] : public diplomacy for Turkey's EU accession / vorgelegt von Jan Dirk Kemming

Kemming, Jan Dirk

Informations

• Publié par: justus-liebig-universitat_giessen
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 7
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

Nation Brand Management in Political Contexts:
Public Diplomacy for Turkey’s EU Accession






Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades Dr. rer. soc. des Fachbereichs
Sozial- und Kulturwissenschaften der Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen.







vorgelegt von
Jan Dirk Kemming
Brüsseler Str. 53
50674 Köln







Gutachten durch
Prof. Dr. Claus Leggewie
Prof. Dr. Güliz Ger







September 2009



Summary
In the following a short synopsis on the situation analysis, the research ambi-
tion, main findings and the contribution of this thesis is given.

Problem and situation analysis
No matter which database is consulted, the European Union‟s public opinion
on Turkey‟s EU membership is disenchanting. Eurobarometer data, the Euro-
pean Commission‟s public opinion surveys, shows on average 59% of all
member states‟ publics opposing Turkey‟s EU accession and only 28% holding
a favorable opinion.
While countries like e.g. Sweden or Portugal even display a positive balance
between favorable and unfavorable opinions on Turkey‟s EU bid, in countries
like Germany, Austria or France the negative camp exceeds positive views by
more than 40%. Almost all obvious patterns trying to explain this distribution
– be it a large Turkish diaspora, religion, Ottoman history, Muslim immigra-
tion, Mediterranean or new member states solidarity – fail. Similar surveys like
e.g. the German Marshall Fund‟s Transatlantic Trends largely confirm both the
supporters/opponents camps and the trend against Turkey.
Once these surveys add a conditional clause like “if Turkey fulfills all EU
membership requirements”, almost half of the EU member states‟ publics
have a positive opinion about Turkish membership. Countries like Austria,
Luxembourg or Germany however remain firmly opposed by more than 40%
margin. These shifts indicate that public opinion data is clearly blurry and vo-
latile, and not a sufficient category of explanation for Turkey‟s situation.

This research project therefore employs the concept of nation branding to
help explain Turkey‟s EU accession puzzle and investigate the conditions of
Turkey‟s perception in Europe more thoroughly.

Looking at the most relevant source of data for this approach, the Nation
Brand Index, it becomes apparent that Turkey suffers from a clearly negative
nation brand image. Between 2005 and 2007 Turkey has never managed to
leave the bottom region of the global ranking and ends up continuously
among the 5 worst nation brands of 38 nations under survey. In a more de-
tailed analysis of Turkey‟s nation brand dimensions, only the value of the cul-
tural heritage and the hospitality of the people contribute to a positive per-
ception of Turkey, while items such as export products, trust in the govern-
ment, immigration and investment intentions for Turkey all score way below
the global average. In almost all dimensions furthermore the perceptions of
Turkey by the European panelists are more negative than by the informants
living outside of Europe despite them having a comparably clearer picture of
Turkey. Analysis of Turkey‟s perception in the international media shows a
significant negative correlation between media mentions and negative tonality
(=the more Turkey is covered, the more negative the coverage is) underscor-
ing this trend.

The diagnosis that Turkey has a (nation brand) image problem has gained
some popularity across different research domains. The term „image‟ has be-
ii come a popular discursive weapon and a political catchphrase in the public
debate on Turkey and the main political actors nowadays. Imagological re-
search on the history of Turks and the Ottoman Empire in Europe brings nu-
thmerous events and streams from late Middle Ages to 20 century to the fore
that make clear that Turkey‟s contemporary image cannot be dissociated from
the Turks‟ historical images. Marketing research on Turkey‟s brand image
shows that the country‟s image is actually varying in the individual EU mem-
ber states and indicates remarkable deviations between Turkey‟s self-image
as seen from inside the country vs. the outside image from abroad. Further-
more it was found that people who have visited Turkey before hold a more
positive image than those who have not, and that the overall knowledge and
awareness of Turkey in Europe seems to be rather low. Overall it can be said
that the public discourse of Turkey‟s EU accession is burdened by numerous
myths and stereotypes that can be expected to also influence the official dip-
lomatic procedures.

Despite such significant public reservations, the then 25 EU countries un-
animously declared Turkey an accession candidate in 2005. And from the offi-
cial positions, a clear majority of countries still positively supports Turkey in
2009, while opposition can be expected in the central countries of „old Eu-
rope‟, including EU founding members like France, Luxemburg and Germany
as well as Austria, and by the Republic of Cyprus. Certainly, however, after
the lost referenda on the EU constitution, the trouble ratifying the Lisbon trea-
ty and the two most recent energy-consuming enlargement rounds, Turkey
knocks at EU‟s door during the times of one of the deepest crises of this
community ever. The conflicting attitudes towards Turkey are also indicating
EU‟s lack of clarity about its present identity and future direction, usually pola-
rized between the “deepening” vs. “broadening” camps. Arguments pro or con
Turkey‟s membership relate to common historical and cultural roots vs. fun-
damental cultural differences between EU-Europe and Turkey, to different
(strategic) views and outlooks on the EU as a whole and to the problematic
inner constitution of Turkey in the light of current political developments.

Summarizing this complex situation analysis it becomes apparent that Tur-
key‟s EU accession process is first and foremost a public affair, representing
the difficult relationship between the governing political elite and the voting
European citizenry. In the scenario at hand Turkey could meet all criteria of
EU accession, negotiate all chapters successfully, and would then be vetoed
by one or more EU countries in a referendum or other expressions of the pub-
lics‟ political will. As any policies will hardly be able to survive without public
support, clearly a new mode of political communication has to be found to
better account for the exchange between publics and elites.

Theoretical framework and research ambition
Linked to such questions in the domain of international relations theory cur-
rently the sister concepts of public diplomacy and nation branding develop
with closed links to political marketing and communications theory. This
emerging research perspective is chosen to analyze the managerial and oper-
iii ational options for Turkey‟s EU accession process while trying to counteract
the negative public sentiment outlined above.

The concepts of public diplomacy and nation branding rest on the fundamen-
tal distinction of hard and soft power of political entities, which evolved in the
social sciences rather recently in the analysis of post-Cold War phenomena.
This theoretical dichotomy discerns traditional forms of power based on eco-
nomic or military clout – the power of coercion labeled hard power – and a
nation‟s soft power dimensions based on information, preferences, attractive-
ness and „the best story‟. Clearly soft power lies not in the hand who pos-
sesses it, but rather develops largely out of control of the owner. Public opi-
nion and images, stemming from attractiveness and persuasion, have become
essential assets for a country‟s foreign policy agenda, as was shown in the
analysis of Turkey‟s EU accession.

In marketing and communication theory the concepts of image and reputation
redefined the marketplace logic in a way that is similar to the way countries‟
soft powers change the landscape of international relations: behaviour based
on the symbolic meaning of objects add a complementary dimension to beha-
viour based on functional meaning enriching the market perspective of a ra-
tional economy by the one of a symbolic economy.

Nation branding, a theory direction evolving in the general broadening of the
marketing concept, rests on the assumption that globalization amplifies the
competition among nations in the most different domains from tourism to in-
vestment promotion for which a differentiating unique brand positioning can
provide advantages. As seen before, the interpretation of nations as brands
provides valuable insights into understanding the status quo of a nation also
in relationship to other entities. But also in managerial regard, as the brand-
ing approach inspires innovative methods of statesmanship.

Public diplomacy links to this as it aims to redefine all of the activities by state
and non-state actors that contribute to the maintenance and promotion of a
country‟s soft power, whereas