How can a nation get its voice heard on the world stage and encourage trade and tourism? If you don’t have resources and the weight of numbers on your side, then maybe it’s time to wield some ‘soft power’. By Tyler Brûlé.
Issue 34
Takeshi Kitano AKA “Beat Takeshi” is a big-league comedian and film director who emerged from working-class roots and rose to fame with his TV programmes and gangster films. This year, he’s published his autobiography.
Issue 59
Monocle's third annual Soft Power Survey is an attempt to push the debate on where soft power comes from and how to use it. With current shifts in the global power balance, never has it been more relevant.
Issue 38
Singer Nana Mouskouri is now retired but her songs remain inseparable from Greek culture. She’s a staunch nationalist, having lived through Greece’s transition to a democracy, and is determined that her proud country will…
Issue 49
A new robust approach to diplomatic relations marks a break with tradition for Canada. And many believe it has damaged the nation’s soft-power credentials.
Issue 26
If you’re Germany, you have no option but to assert yourself globally with a softly, softly approach. Since the fall of the Wall, Germany’s foreign office has become master of gently promoting ‘Brand Germany’, with Berlin…
Issue 7
It’s a short drive from the sleek corniche in Beirut to the bountiful souk in Damascus but the residents of these two great cities eye each other with a distinct lack of neighbourly affection. It doesn’t help when you…
Issue 49
Germany’s economic status exceeds its place in the world power order. With a touching lack of marketing sophistication and sturdy business values, Europe’s powerhouse has achieved soft power almost by accident.
Issue 55
No matter how much money and effort is put into marketing your city, if you want tourists to visit and everyone to know its name, nothing compares to having a popular TV series being filmed in your city. Monocle looks at…
Issue 49
Italians have never really believed in hard politics. They’ve always known that the root to real power is through a person’s stomach, and have acted accordingly, building up an enviable array of world class food and drink…
Issue 49
London has had some bad press but with the Olympics ahead, can its burgeoning design scene save the day?
Issue 29
When a flood devastates Uganda or an earthquake strikes Pakistan, Germany’s THW gets some of the first aid workers on the ground. Mostly volunteers, they are part of Germany’s soft power arsenal.
Issue 36
Great Britain hasn’t seemed quite so great in recent years, its image damaged by unpopular wars and the banking crisis. But with the new coalition government bedded in and the Olympics on the horizon, experts from the…
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