Soft Power – Diplomacy and Identity
Soft Power – Diplomacy and Identity

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims to describe the relationship between diplomacy and identity. Can we still talk about soft power in the terms of Joseph Nye? Does Europe use soft power? And if so, does it use it regarding the term of ‘collective identity’? Starting from the article of Anthony D. Smith, National identity and the idea of European unity, can we talk about collective cultural identity? Europe is a continent that knows and accepts lots of different cultures but does it aim, in terms of definition, to have a single „European culture”? There are lots of questions raised by this article. If the members of UE are searching to have a collective identity, how are the member states reacting to this idea? Eventually, every single country is not going to give up the national culture and what is defining each other. There is a common destiny that combines continuity and memory. We can find this at every social level and also regarding the national diplomacy. Attracting the UE members into having a European culture, and doing this in terms of soft power, can this really work for the UE? The European identity, as well as the national identity, it is not a natural one but a social one. It is a social construct seen as the result of historical conditions and cultural relations.

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