BUILDING SOFT POWER: CHALLENGES OF PAKISTAN’S FOREIGN CULTURAL POLICY AND THE WAY FORWARD

Abstract

This paper undertakes a critical analysis of the dialectics of soft power in the current interstate system. It puts forward the concept of the cultural ecosystem consisting of a broad array of interconnected cultural institutions as the domestic infrastructure of soft power building. A dynamic foreign cultural policy, based on the successful pursuit of the cultural interests of a nation, depends on the high domestic performance and internationalization of the national cultural ecosystem. Pakistan lacks this approach. Development of cultural ecosystem and cultural value creation and linking them to different types of relevant diplomacy is proposed as the way forward. The article ‘Emergence of Cyber Militia: Time to Revisit undertakes a critical analysis of the dialectics of soft power in the current interstate system. It puts forward the concept of the cultural ecosystem consisting of a broad array of interconnected cultural institutions as the domestic infrastructure of soft power