Soft Power in the Foreign Policy of Pakistan: Prospects and Potentials

Abstract

Transition and diffusion of power are changing the political context and have made soft power more relevant than ever. The Government of Pakistan has started taking some initiatives to harvest soft power through its foreign policy. These include providing development assistance, signing bilateral and multilateral agreements, promoting culture, providing scholarships to international students, contributing to global peace and providing humanitarian assistance. This study aims to describe how soft power operates within the foreign policy of Pakistan. It also aims to explain how far the integration of soft power in foreign policy benefitted Pakistan and what new strategies are there to explore. The study borrows the conceptual framework of soft power proposed by Joseph Nye, follows the qualitative research design and uses primary and secondary data.