A COMPARISON OF TURKEY AND IRAN’S SOFT POWER IN THE GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL (GCC) COUNTRIES

Abstract

In the recent years other forms of power have been implemented and gained significant successes in the international relations. With that regard, the term “Soft Power”, introduced by Joseph Nye, has come to forefront to understand the changing nature of power. Given the increasing importance of soft power in world politics, winning hearts and minds has become one of the indispensible policy agenda of Turkey and Iran in their relations with the Middle Eastern including Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. This study examines a comparison of Turkey’s and Iran’s soft power policies and impacts in the six Gulf Cooperation Council member states (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman) since the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and military coup in Turkey in 1980 through means of analytical, normative, ideological and empirical measures. Audio-recorded interviews with experts, officials, and academics from Turkey, Iran and GCC countries are conducted to garner primary source information on the topic. This thesis also searchers the real reflections of soft power influence of both states in the six aforementioned countries through public opinion dimension. Due to the gap in the literature, this paper offers an analysis of the available public opinion surveys towards Iran and Turkey; and driving factors of such attitudes to draw a comprehensive and broader picture of soft power policies to two non-Arab regional states.