Power of Bonding and Non-Western Soft Power Strategy in Iran

This book comparatively assesses the China and India’s soft power strategy in Iran. By employing Joseph S. Nye’s “Soft Power” theory and forming the new concept of “Power of Bonding”, this book formulated China and India’s soft power narratives and applied it through the empirical analysis in Iran. Based on this theory, this book seeks explanations for the question of “How China and India respectively, strategically and comparatively use the soft power strategy in Iran?”. To reach the find-out, this book compares the understanding, resources, strategies, influences and uses of China and India’s soft power in Iran under three thematic areas, including “power of bonding through cultural attractions, and attributions”; ‎“political and diplomatic engagement” and “economic partnerships”. By analysing China and India’s soft power strategy in Iran, this book ‎seeks to contribute to the soft power literature through a theoretical replication based ‎on non-Western soft power strategy, the concept and its empirical application in China and India.

“By exploring the concept of “power of bonding” & “non-western soft power strategy”, author does a remarkable contribution to bringing a theoretical & empirical approach to the concept of “soft power”, one that is grounded in considerable research, a significant number of interviews and arguments, and references to history and official declarations relevant to China and India's engagement in Iran. This book is essential for anyone who wants to keep up with the dynamic aspect of changing international politics.” (Prof. Dr. Kudret BÜLBÜL, President, Foreign Relations Department, Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM) and Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University)

“Dr. Nazmul Islam’s study on China and India’s soft power strategy of the two very critical rising powers from the South toward Iran is a very rare example of explaining how the power relations are working in the Eastern World. The study certainly provides deep insights to better understand the developing new modalities of engagements and competitions among emerging nations for gaining influence, exerting power and generating public consent for their foreign policies. I think the book will encourage new academic discussions on South-South relations and strengthens the prediction of the tomorrow’s World in the age of uncertainty and chaos.” (Prof. Dr. Birol AKGÜN, Professor of International Relations)

“As civilisational entities and with a rich repository of traditional soft power skills distilled through centuries, Iran, India, and China are well poised to explore and contribute to the diversity of the subject. All the three are involved in a dialogue of civilizations and resurrecting constructively the age-old communication among states. This book thoughtfully and superbly explores the rich interactions between Iran, India, and China and how the latter two have been engaged with Iran in persuading, learning, emulating, and co-opting each other. In the emerging turbulent world order, the book provides the much needed and contemporary insights into non-western soft power strategies relevant for academics, policy makers and the media.” (Prof. Dr. Srikanth Kondapalli, Dean and Professor of Chinese Studies at School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)

“The book analyzes the soft power activity of two Asian powers, China, and India, which were on the rise simultaneously with the collapse of the Soviet Union in Iran, where the US was excluded as a superpower after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. An important study that looks at the regional power struggle of Asian powers in Asia through the eyes of an Asian.” (Prof. Dr. Abdulrezak ALTUN, Dean, Faculty of Communication, Ankara University)

“In this book, Md. Nazmul Islam competently explained the role of Joseph Nye's concept of “soft power” in the struggle for hegemony of non-Western countries. The influence of China and India on Iran is a phenomenon that does not get much attention from an academic point of view. Islam has defended an original thesis with different dimensions for China and India's search for hegemony over Iran.” (Prof. Dr. Hamit Emrah BERIŞ, Vice President, The Turkish National Police Academy and Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University)

“Nazmul’s incisive and coherent work brings attention to the profundity of China and India’s soft power narratives and how these shape their perceptions and projection of power in Iran. The book's theoretical and empirical rigorous and refreshing insights on the complexity of regional politics are likely to recast our thinking on non-western soft power strategies in Asia and beyond.” (Prof. Dr. Murat YEŞILTAŞ, Professor of International Relations, Social Sciences University of Ankara and Director, Foreign Policy, Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, Ankara, Türkiye)

“Theoretically innovative, the book adds a much-needed non-Western perspective to the discussion of the soft power of China and India, two-emerging powers.” (Prof. Dr. Habibul Khondker, Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Co-author, Globalization: East and West, Sage (2010))

“In contemporary times, Joseph Nye has rightly been credited for championing the cause of ‘soft power.’ However, one must quickly point out that various states, empires, and civilizations have used ‘soft power’ from time immemorial. In this context, reading Md Nazmul Islam’s book is worthwhile. Islam delves into the contributions of the non-Western soft power, including the contributions of the Harappan, Mauryan and Mughal empires. The book would go a long way in framing the need for soft power in the non-West and the West.” (Prof. Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed, Professor of International Relations, Director, Centre for Genocide Studies and Office of the International Affairs, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh)

“Against the emerging global battleground between soft power and a return to centre-stage of hard or command power, this book is an important contribution to reconsidering the theory of soft power through a new lens.  China and India offer a critical case study of the fine line between strategic short-term soft power strategies, and a longer-term commitment that can be characterised as a ‘bond’ between nations.” (Prof. Dr. Olav Muurlink, Professor of School of Business and Law and Head of Course, Sustainable Innovation, CQUniversity Australia)

“How rising powers such as India and China can improve their international standing is an evolving topic in international politics and Dr. Md Namul Islam’s new book is the most recent attempt. His elaborations on India and China’s cultural, political, diplomatic, and economic engagements with Iran brings up an important non-western lens to look into soft power theory and will surely arouse academic discussions.” (Prof. (Assoc.) Dr. XIE Chao, Professor of Institute of International Studies, Fudan University and Former Faculty, Institute for International and Area Studies, Tsinghua University)

“A highly recommended topical book by Dr Nazmul Islam on the growing India-China rivalry in West Asia, focusing on Iran. The book is easy to follow, and a must read especially for academics and students in political science, comparative studies, and international relations disciplines.” (Prof. (Asst.) Dr. Maziar Mozaffari Falarti, Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran)

“This is a brilliantly written book. Md. Nazmul Islam gathers an arsenal of startling facts, revealing the extent of the Indian and Chinese charm offensives in Iran. It presents a complete roadmap of eastern methods for public diplomacy and nation branding. A must-read!” (Dr. Tarek Cherkaoui, Director, TRT World Research Centre)

“This book seems to explore the ideational and intellectual paradigms of developing partnership by India and China for strategic gains in Iran.” (Prof. Dr. Arshi Khan, Professor, Department of Political Science, Aligarh Muslim University, India)

“Career diplomats, and policymakers will find this book very valuable since it shows how India and China have engaged through cultural attractions, attributions, diplomatic engagement, and economic ties in Iran.” (Md. Rais Hasan Sarower ndc, Director General (DG) and Career Diplomat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh)

“As Asia returns to the center of the gravity of geopolitics, two countries—China and India, feature prominently in this discourse. Applying Joe Nye's "soft power" concept in a non-western setting, “Dr. Islam's scholarship demonstrates how two of Asia's major powers are vying for another strategically significant country Iran.” (Anu Anwar, Harvard Asia Center and John K. Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States of America (USA))

“This book offers an enlightening viewpoint on China and India's use of soft power by researching the narrative underpinnings of China and India's soft power and relating it to modern China and India's strategic engagement. This book is a wonderful addition to this area of study as it gives a detailed look at the impact that China's and India's soft power has had on their respective governments' foreign policy, and it does so in a way that is both nuanced and objective and how are they softly engaged in Iran. Because the information provided in this book is straightforward and easy to understand, one could make the case that it is suitable for readers of varying educational backgrounds and areas of interest. It is required reading for all academics, diplomats, researchers, intellectuals, journalists and decision-makers in government and non-government.” (Prof. (Asst.) Dr. Dra. Christine Sri Marnani, M.A.P., Republic of Indonesia Defense University, and Colonel (Ret.), Indonesian National Armed Forces, Republic of Indonesia)

“This book offers a rigorous and analytical account of China and India's soft power strategy in Iran. As long as the Power of bonding is concerned through the historical background of trika (China, India and Iran), diplomatically China has the upper hand, but, on the other hand, no doubt culturally India has an edge over China towards Iran.” (Prof. Dr. Amir Ali Khuhro, Professor, Institute of International Relations, Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan)

Md. Nazmul Islam is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political ‎Science and Public Administration and Head of Turkey, Asia, and Indo-Pacific Studies at ULİSA, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Communication Studies at Ankara University, Turkey.