NATO's use of soft power

The end of the Cold War heralded the coming of a unipolar world order, where the main axis of discussions revolved around issues such as democracy, human rights, international law…etc. It is within the context of the post-Cold War period—characterized by greater peace and relative stability in international relations—some scholars began to elaborate under the influence of Neoliberal theory the doctrine of soft power. While this doctrine is a multi-dimensional concept, particularly in international relations, soft power is often emerges out of the activities of public diplomacy. NATO as an organization established as a regional system of defense after the Second World War had been experiencing a "crisis of identity" itself since the end of the Cold War. The 9/11 attacks in 2001 became a turning point for NATO, as the organization found itself a "new mission" and began to frame itself as the "protector of global peace and stability." İn this period of time, partially inspired by such ongoing discussions, NATO gradually started embracing the instruments of soft power as well. NATO had indeed shifted in terms of its rules of engagement and geographic limits of operation from a regional organization of defense into a global security organization. This transformation has been closely related to the preferential use of soft power, which NATO strives to achieve. This study examines whether NATO's attempts in the use of soft power has been successful or not, and critically evaluates room for improvement in NATO's conduct of soft power.