The European Union's use of soft power and its soft power towards Middle East countries: The case of Syria

Following the Arab Spring, the Syrian civil war, and due to the fact that DAESH is no longer limited to Syria and has spread to European countries, as well as with the increase of immigration, the European Union's (EU) policies towards Syria have changed. The EU policies towards the Middle East countries, its agenda against DAESH and the soft power activities of the four largest EU states (Germany, United Kingdom, France and Italy) and mainly Syria, are explained in the context of the aforementioned developments in the region. In this Master's thesis study, besides focusing on the soft power activities of the above mentioned countries of the EU, the Middle East policy of the EU member states will also be discussed further. How do EU countries behave before the problems that arise in the Middle East? The use of soft power in such cases and the impact of its use in the Middle East was examined in order to analyze the EU's Middle East policies in depth. In addition, the present thesis study aims to draw attention on the effects of those policies in the Middle East by ensuring that these policies are completely understood. The questions that the present study seeks to answer are the following: Does the EU apply soft power policies in the Middle East? If so, what are the exact soft power policies of the EU towards the Middle East? Is this applied soft power continuous?