Analyzing Soft Power Strategies

This assignment delves into the soft power strategies utilized by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia following the Arab Spring. It explores how these nations leverage tools beyond traditional military and economic might to shape regional perceptions and exert influence. The analysis draws upon scholarly articles, reports, and case studies to understand the effectiveness of their approaches in achieving political objectives.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Proposal
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Executive Summary
This study has conducted a comparative analysis of soft power and hard power in the
UAE. The effectiveness of soft and hard power has been depended on the accessibility of the
resources in power. Thus, maintaining large military and maintaining good relationships with
various other countries was essential for maintaining diplomatic supremacy. Hard power was
difficult to obtain for smaller nations but UAE had strong relationship with the United States,
which had been a significant transformation in UAE foreign policy. The conclusion drawn from
the study was that maintaining a balance between hard and soft power had been essential in
modern world of globalization. The objective of had been formulated and based on that
appropriate methods had been selected.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Background and problem definition................................................................................................3
Objectives........................................................................................................................................4
Research question............................................................................................................................4
Literature review..............................................................................................................................5
Research methodology.....................................................................................................................8
Research plan.................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................13

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Topic: Soft power versus hard power: An insight to the foreign policy and its strategic aims in
UAE
Introduction
This is a study, which will conduct a comparative analysis of soft power and hard power
in the UAE. The effectiveness of soft and hard power will depend on the accessibility of the
resources in power. Thus, maintaining large military and maintaining good relationships with
various other countries is essential for maintaining diplomatic supremacy. Hard power is difficult
to obtain for smaller nations but UAE has strong relationship with the United States, which is a
significant transformation in UAE foreign policy. However, the government structure of UAE is
complex so combing hard and soft power in feasible proportions is essential.
Background and problem definition
United Arab Emirates political framework includes elements of absolute, presidential and
federal monarchy. There are seven monarchies in the United Arab Emirates constitutions. The
leader of Abu Dhabi holds the head of state and Presidential post. On the other hand, the leader
of Dubai holds the position of Prime minister of the country. Thus, different monarchs rule the
seven emirates, which is the main reason for difference in style of diplomacy approach (Lee
2015). It is evident from the fact that Abu Dhabi prefers using hard power as strategic approach
whereas Doha has preferred using soft power as their strategic approach. The priorities of their
leaders have determined the strategies applied by each of the gulf states. The countries able to
incorporate elements of both soft and hard power are known as smart power companies. UAE
has formed strong diplomatic relationship with the United States of America after the 9/11 due to
the involvement of terrorists from Emirates.

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UAE has been aggressive in using hard power and assist maintain peace in Afghanistan.
However, implementing soft power is essential for the growth of the nation. In the recent years,
UAE has been praised for aiding in various international issues and have attempted to portray
them as tolerant, progressive and open country. The country has major human rights issues and
instead of solving these issues, they are spending generously on foreign matters. Thus, the
suppression of local labours, 85% of it are foreign immigrants, have been overlooked
(McGeehan 2015). These workers have rights less than the Emirati citizens and highlight the
extremely unfair sponsor based employment system. The UAE government has not been able to
deal with this illegal process of recruiting foreign labours and confiscation of passports of
employees by their employees. Human trafficking and forced labour is a major issue, which has
remained unaddressed. This shows that UAE has not been able to maintain the balance and
implement smart power.
Objectives
 To evaluate the various soft power and hard power strategies in UAE
 To identify the effective and suitable strategies for gaining diplomatic supremacy
 To recommend suitable strategies appropriate for gaining diplomatic supremacy
Research question
 What is the impact of soft power in UAE?
 What is the impact of hard power in UAE?
 What is the suitable way of unifying UAE?

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 What are the critical factors for gaining diplomatic supremacy in UAE?
Literature review
Implementation of the soft power and hard power are the key elements for the countries
to maintain their diplomatic supremacy in the current global political scenario. This is due to the
reason that, with the reduction in the difference between the developed and developing countries,
the competition among them is increasing. Thus, it is of urgent need for them to utilize their
capability and resources to influence the global politics. However, there are two types of power
that can be exercised by the countries namely, soft and hard power. UAE is one of most
developed economies in the Middle Eastern regions with having huge reserve of oil and foreign
currency. Thus, the resources for their exercise of hard and soft power are also increasing with
time.
Influence of soft power in global politics
According to Pamment (2014), the importance of soft power is rapidly increasing in the
current scenario of foreign diplomacy. This is due to the reason that, major countries in the
current global scenario are having military might and in the present era of globalization,
countries promoting military power will face loss. Thus, they are more promoting their soft
power including culture, tourism, heritage and identity to enhance their position in the global
market. The authors have stated that, initiation of the soft power have added advantage for the
countries due to the fact that, it will enhance the branding of the countries in positive manner.
According to Grix and Lee (2013), soft power is mainly practiced by the nations in order
to lure the maximum attraction towards them. They have also stated that the elements to be
included as the soft power are increasing with time. Some of them are organizing mega sports

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events, cultural activities and tourism. It helps the countries to enhance their goodwill and
reputation in the global scenario. Moreover, the authors have also stated that, soft power will also
help in initiating in the hard power. This is due to the reason that, the more soft power will be
initiated by the countries; the more will their resources to initiate hard power.
Influence of hard power in global politics
Hard power is being practices from the ancient time as the mode of diplomacy between
the countries. In addition, various major superpowers are practicing in the current situation also.
Though, practicing of hard power helps the countries to have benefits in less time compared to
practicing soft power but, it creates negative image and foreign relations about the particular
country. According to llgen (2016), apart from the soft power, practicing of hard power also
helps in enhancing the country position in the global scenario. Moreover, they have also stated
that, in the current global scenario, different cartels are present between different countries.
Thus, if any particular country is not having any resources for practicing hard power, then it will
be difficult for them to align with any alliance or cartels.
According to Klare (2015), hard power is not included to only showcasing military
strength, but also includes economic power. This is due to the fact that, in the current era of
globalization, economical war prevails among the countries. According to the author,
globalization increased the dependency of the countries on other. Thus, countries with having
more resources are enjoying the upper hand over others. Thus, the bargaining power of these
countries is more in the global political scenario. In this case, practicing of soft power is not
important or necessary for these countries.

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Soft power diplomacy by UAE
In the recent time, UAE is the forerunner among the Middle Eastern countries in terms of
development. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are known as the global business hub. Moreover, their
domestic infrastructure can be compared to any western countries. According to Carvalho Pinto
(2014), the practice of soft power by UAE helped them to change their global perception from
follower to role model. The domestic infrastructure, political stability and favorable economy are
being effectively promoted by their government in order to enhance their influence. This helped
them to gain the worldwide recognition along with increase in the foreign investment. Thus,
according to the author, with the increase in the investment and economy, the influential power
of them also got increased.
According to Ragab (2017), soft power being practiced by UAE helped them to gain
more political influence in the Middle Eastern regions. According to the author, UAE is the
united front of seven monarchies including Dubai and Abu Dhabi. They have used the advanced
infrastructure of Dubai as their tool of soft diplomacy. In addition, another tool being used by
them is the tourism. Dubai stands on the top charts of top destination for the global tourist every
year. This helped them to create the positive image in the global scenario. The positive image of
them helped to get closer with the leading economies in the world and having more value in the
political scenario of Middle East.
Hard power diplomacy by UAE
Apart from the soft power, UAE also practice hard power in order to maintain their
supremacy in the Middle Eastern region. According to Ulrichsen (2016), Middle Eastern region
is one of the most disturbed areas with having increased threat of terrorism and conflict with

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other countries. This, it is important for UAE to maintain their military strengths to safeguard
their interest. One of the hard powers being possessed by them is the association with NATO.
UAE is the first country in the Middle Eastern region, which have collaboration with NATO.
Thus, this helped to have the support of global superpowers such as United States. It helps them
to have more value in the international political scenario.
According to Hosen (2016), hard power is important for UAE due to the increasing
conflict with other countries in the Middle Eastern region. The author have also stated that, with
the increase in the collaboration with United States and arms deal with them, the hard power
diplomacy is ever increasing. Threats such ISIS is also contributing in enhancing the hard power
policy of UAE.
Research methodology
A research methodology will include fundamental and applied methods. In fundamental
research, universal principles, relationships and processes are examined to expand knowledge. In
applied research, a particular management problem will be identified and evaluated to identify a
specific business problem. The study will consist of fundamental research where the study will
analyse the political and social issues to identify the appropriate solution. The study will consist
of secondary analysis of data and qualitative analysis will be used. The methodology will
identify the research philosophy, research design, sampling, research approach, reliability,
validity and sampling.
Research philosophies used in social research will consist of realism, interpretivism,
positivism, post positivism and pragmatism (Knobe and Nichols 2013). According to Taylor,
Bogdan and DeVault (2015), identification of research philosophy may seem to be intense and

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profound but it follows a definite structure. Positivism is a philosophy, which will observe the
overall phenomenon to identify relevant findings in the study. Realism includes critical and
direct realism where the personal human sense is either rejected or accepted. Post positivism
philosophy will reject all the methods proposed by positivism philosophy. It assumes that there is
no difference between day-to-day and scientific approach (O’Gorman, Lochrie and Watson
2014). Pragmatism takes assumptions made by all the above philosophies to implement multiple
research approaches. It is used in mixed methods where quantitative and qualitative analysis of
data is included. Interpretivism consists of analysis of small sample size and qualitative analysis
is conducted. In this study, analysis of secondary data will be executed and consist of qualitative
analysis of data so interpretivism has been selected as the research philosophy.
There are two types of research approaches, one is deductive approach and other is the
inductive approach (Sekaran and Bougie 2016). Deductive approach is used for confirming the
theories mentioned in the literature of a study. Inductive approach is will identify new outcomes
and no predefined outcomes will be set. Deductive approach will identify the cause of any
phenomenon to prove the taken assumptions whereas inductive approach will interpret the
meaning of the qualitative data collected in the study. Deductive approach is used for
quantitative analysis of data but can be used for qualitative analysis but in most of the occasions,
using inductive approach will provide better interpretation of the data collected (Teherani et al.
2015). This is possible, as the approach is not bounded by predefined assumptions. In this
currents study, deductive approach has been rejected as no hypothesis will assumed and tested.
The study will consist of inductive approach where there will be narrative description and
constant comparison among the collected data to identify the patterns.

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Data collection method will consist of secondary analysis and will include analysis of
articles and peer reviewed journals. The study will analyse case studies and develop themes to
provide better analysis of data. Thus, case study analysis and thematic analysis will be the
methods of secondary analysis of data (Silverman 2016). The development of different themes
will be based on the objectives developed. The qualitative analysis will consist of semi
structured, open ended questions and in-depth interviews. In case study analysis similar cases
related to the topic will be highlighted, compared and analysed to establish the findings of the
study. In thematic analysis, themes will be formed based the objectives and various instances
will be analysed to recognise the findings. Continuous comparison is the method of analysing
the variables in the study.
Sampling is a method of collection the data sample, and in academic researches
probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling will be used. Sampling is used for selecting
particular population sample from the whole population. Probabilistic sampling is implemented
in large data samples whereas non-probabilistic sampling is used for smaller sample size (Best
and Kahn 2016). When there is huge population, then the sample size for the study is randomly
selected using probabilistic sampling. There are different methods in probabilistic sampling such
as simple random sampling, stratified sampling, systematic sampling and cluster sampling
(Palinkas et al. 2015). Probabilistic sampling provides the whole population non-zero chance of
participating in the study and randomization is the fundamental doctrine of probabilistic
sampling. On the contrary, in non-probabilistic sampling, sample population is selected non-
randomly and particular set of population have the opportunity of being selected. Non-
probabilistic sampling consists of methods such as convenience sampling, snowball sampling,
quota sampling and judgement sampling (Sekaran and Bougie 2016). Non-probabilistic

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sampling is used to save time and cost which is a huge liability of probabilistic sampling method.
It is also used in cases where there is less availability of appropriate data. However, in this study
simple random sampling has been used to collect 5 articles and 10 peer reviewed journals which
will be analysed based on the objectives and goals set in the study.
Reliability and validity is an issue which has to be addressed while conducting a
research. In academic and business studies, having high reliability signifies that other researchers
will be able to draw the same sets of conclusions in similar research topics (Bryman and Bell
2015). Validity is extremely crucial for obtaining a valid result from the study as it will examine
whether all the prescribed methods are followed or not.
Ethical consideration is essential for considering business and academic research. The
privacy of the sample population should be maintained. However, this study is based on
secondary data so no plagiarised content has been used in the study (Creswell and Poth 2017).
The data provided in the study is authentic and proper evidence has been provided to confirm
these facts.
Research plan
Main activities/ stages Week1 Week2 Week3 Week4 Week5 Week 6
Topic Selection 
Data collection from
secondary sources
 

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Framing layout of the
research

Literature review   
Formation of the research
Plan
 
Selection of the Appropriate
Research Techniques
 
Secondary data collection  
Analysis & Interpretation of
Data Collection
 
Conclusion of the Study 
Formation of Rough Draft 
Submission of Final Work 
Table 1: Gantt chart
(Source: as created by author)
Conclusion
The conclusion drawn from the study is that maintaining a balance between hard and soft
power is essential in modern world of globalization. The objective of has been formulated and
based on that appropriate methods have been selected. The study is likely to provide positive
result if reliability and validity is kept high.

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References
Best, J.W. and Kahn, J.V., 2016. Research in education. Pearson Education India.
Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015. Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.
Carvalho Pinto, V., 2014. From “Follower” to “Role Model”: The Transformation to the UAE's
International Self-Image. Journal of Arabian Studies, 4(2), pp.231-243.
Creswell, J.W. and Poth, C.N., 2017. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among
five approaches. Sage publications.
Grix, J. and Lee, D., 2013. Soft power, sports mega-events and emerging states: The lure of the
politics of attraction. Global society, 27(4), pp.521-536.
Hosen, M.K., 2016. POWER POLITICS AND THE EMERGENCE OF TERRORISM IN THE
MIDDLE EAST. Journal of Asian and African Social Science and Humanities (ISSN 2413-
2748), 2(2), pp.139-151.
Ilgen, T.L. ed., 2016. Hard power, soft power and the future of transatlantic relations.
Routledge.
Klare, M., 2015. Hard power, soft power, and energy power. Foreign Affairs. com.
Knobe, J. and Nichols, S. eds., 2013. Experimental philosophy(Vol. 2). Oxford University Press.
Lee, J.T., 2015. Soft power and cultural diplomacy: Emerging education hubs in
Asia. Comparative Education, 51(3), pp.353-374.

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McGeehan, N., 2015. Some Hard Truths about the UAE's Soft Power. [online] Human Rights
Watch. Available at: <https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/04/15/some-hard-truths-about-uaes-soft-
power> [Accessed 6 Jan. 2018].
O’Gorman, K., Lochrie, S. and Watson, A., 2014. Research philosophy and case
studies. Research Methods for Business & Management, pp.152-172.
Palinkas, L.A., Horwitz, S.M., Green, C.A., Wisdom, J.P., Duan, N. and Hoagwood, K., 2015.
Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation
research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services
Research, 42(5), pp.533-544.
Pamment, J., 2014. Articulating influence: Toward a research agenda for interpreting the
evaluation of soft power, public diplomacy and nation brands. Public Relations Review, 40(1),
pp.50-59.
Ragab, E., 2017. Beyond Money and Diplomacy: Regional Policies of Saudi Arabia and UAE
after the Arab Spring. The International Spectator, 52(2), pp.37-53.
Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R., 2016. Research methods for business: A skill building approach.
John Wiley & Sons.
Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage.
Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A
guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.