Soft power， public diplomacy and mega—event

Soft power is the phrase Joseph Nye created to describe foreign policy tools by which nations can use to achieve desired outcomes through attraction .In other words， soft power refers to attraction， and influence which are effective to both foreign countries and native nation itself. The powerful culture is real soft power because it is a long， unconsciousness training process which will reconstruct the aesthetical， ethical standard， even the lifestyle and worldview of its audience and influence their behavior in return. Soft power can shape good nation image and protect nation security if used properly.

Public diplomacy is one of the contents of soft power. It is first of all about communications within and out of abroad. Media plays the main role in public diplomacy. Public diplomacy has great impact on China’s “peaceful rise”. As a developing country， China has to take serious consideration on the international judgment about her image； public diplomacy is a powerful method to avoid shaped as enemy by other nations. According to traditional international relationship theory， the rising China is easily be regard as the enemy of America’s power， if this image was assured in public’s mind， it will be a disadvantage for China. So it’s China’s diplomatic emergency to refine her nation image as a respectable and responsible country.

Mega-events played a crucial role in creating international public culture. As big cultural events in modern society， mega-events have many progressive functions for the aspects they involve： traditional and modern culture， science and technology， humanism， urbanism， transnational organization of communications and transport. It can reflect public pursue and have great significant. Mega events have been regarded as hallmarks of modernity. International mega-events were and remain important for a nation. They offer important occasions for nations to construct and present images of themselves for other nations and the world. The occasion includes a nation’s past， present and future， and the nation’s tradition and modern. Mega-events are very important for both single nation itself and the whole world’s modernization. The event movements itself and its network is also the effective key to exchange， transfer and diffusion of information， social ideology and technologies. At the same time， mega-events are political and economic processes， thus they have great influence on public culture and cultural citizenship.

Mega events focus the world’s attention on a particular city and a nation. Through the Olympic Games， starting with its ancient culture， China presented an image of modern country to the world. The grand opening ceremony conformed to the Chinese people’s desire for international recognition of their achievements and progress. The successful and spectacular games proved that China has the ability of organization and management， and at the same time， demonstrated its reliability and indispensability as a member of the international community. The hosting of it also has a strong impact on social， political， and economic developments in China. As a result， the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games have left the world with an image of a modern， efficient country with impressive organizational ability.

Although it was widely agreed that the Beijing Games offered an excellent opportunity to promote China to the world， there are still many problems unsolved overcome which China could achieve better result. There is too much attention and effort focused on the domestic audience. There are also critics from media on human rights and Tibet. As a matter of fact， the Beijing Games organizers attempt to use the Olympic Games to form and advertise a positive nation image throughout the world have been deeply affected by these problems.

Public diplomacy is an effective tool to promote national strategic interests. In modern society， mega-events become an increasingly important vehicle for conducting public diplomacy. Chinese people should learn from the successfulness and disadvantages from the Beijing Olympics organization and to use the mega-event as a powerful tool to strengthen China’s soft power， promote the China Brand and promote the development of modern China properly.

Bibliography：

[1]Brownell， Susan. 2012. “Brand China” in the Olympic Context： Communications Challenges of China’s Soft Power Initiative.

[2]Joshua Cooper Ramo. 2007. Brand China.

[3]Brownell， Susan. 2012. Human rights and the Beijing Olympics： imagined global community and the transnational public sphere. The British Journal of Sociology 2012 Volume 63 Issue 2.

[4]John Horne and Wolfram Manzenreiter. 2006. An introduction to the sociology of sports mega-events. The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review.

[5]Wolfram Manzenreiter. 2010. The Beijing Games in the Western Image of Choina： The Weak Power of Soft Power. Journal of Sport and social Issues.