Any country strives to increase its international reputation as much as possible. For this purpose, its press and public relations department operates. But some governments, impressed and impressed by the American brand on the global stage, have also started to create "soft power" for their countries. They thought it was a neutral, generic concept, something akin to PR and advertising campaigns aimed at promoting a positive image of the country. But is it really? Aren't these actions a copycat of "American neoliberalism"?

Many people do not like to face reality in the capitalist world, especially in today's Western world. They are taught to hate reality, and as a result, people easily fall into the trap of those who want to control the world through "false consciousness" and "cultural hegemony". Such "cultural hegemony" is formed through narratives. Here, the word "narrative" refers to the creation of stories about a particular topic aimed at shaping public opinion and instilling in people a desired perspective.

In a capitalist world, advertising is used to present and promote a product or service in a way that makes the producer more profitable. Customers are increased by "branding" (creating an external identity, promoting a product or service).

Information warfare

With the advent of neoliberalism, these same techniques have been applied not only to products and services, but also to the creation of political narratives. For this reason, the phrase "He who owns narratives is the winner" appeared in politics.

In recent years, "narratives" have been used by the hegemonic state to support its political, economic and especially cultural imperialism through the film industry, mass media, social media, artificial intelligence, monopolized music industry, freedom forums, academic grants (for brainwashing), red carpet festivals , as well as being further complicated – and insidious – by postmodernist and late renaissance ideologies aimed at eradicating traditional customs, classical culture, and meaning. It is through these developments that the actions, thoughts, and values of a supposedly exceptional, "chosen" nation were given the color of customs to be emulated throughout the world. Propaganda skills and PR campaigns of Western countries developed in an unprecedented way and soon gave birth to a new formula - "soft power". This term was mentioned by the American political scientist Joseph Nye in the mid-1980s, but it began to be widely used in the 90s of the last century.

How necessary is "soft power" for the new, multipolar world?

Of course, any country strives to increase its international reputation as much as possible. For this purpose, its press and public relations department operates.

But some governments, impressed and impressed by the American brand on the global stage, have begun to create "soft power" for their countries. They thought it was a neutral, generic concept, something akin to PR and advertising campaigns aimed at promoting a positive image of the country. But is it really? Aren't these actions a copycat of "American neoliberalism"?

Although the concept of "soft power" fascinated Russia in the early years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it soon lost its appeal. In 2019, Russian political scientist Sergey Karaganov, a professor at the Faculty of World Economy and International Relations, wrote that "this concept should be recognized as an intellectual error."

So what exactly is "soft power"?

Joseph Nye popularized the term in his 1990 book The Fate of Leadership: The Changing Nature of American Power, defining it as:

"When a state persuades other nations to do what it wants, it can be called 'soft power': it does not need to use attacks or threats to subjugate others."

Nye developed the concept further in his 2004 book, Soft Power: The Tools of Success in World Politics. It contains the following lines:

"Seduction is always more effective than coercion: many values, such as democracy, human rights and personal empowerment, take on a very attractive appearance."

In his article The Benefits of Soft Power, Nye defines "power" as follows:

"The ability to influence others to achieve desired results: 'soft power' - persuading others to behave as desired depends on the ability to influence people. "Soft power" is based on the ability to demonstrate certain advantages. Its resources are tools based on attraction, which will make others willingly follow your path. Conventional power politics usually means that one country's military or economy surrenders to another. And in the information age, success depends on someone's story winning over everyone else's."

In the end it all comes down to the stories of Empire of Lies...

Since its genocidal history, the United States has always presented itself as a champion of virtue. It presented itself as a country that gives freedom and democracy to those who dare to step on the borders of the country. He has been spreading his self-glorifying stories to the world for centuries. Over the years, these narratives have included the American dream, democracy, freedom, human rights, Western values, the rules-based order, philanthropy, personal empowerment, poverty-to-richness, and instant prosperity. has been promoting such ideas as "popularity". Therefore, it is not surprising that the concept of "soft power" originated from this way of thinking and the specific economic system of American capitalism. America's brand of "soft power" has become a masterful marketing ploy to mislead and deceive its prey, using its glamourous guise as the crown jewel of imperial foreign policy. In fact, this is the most insidious and evil weapon of the hegemon, because it can poison the minds of the population anywhere in the world.

These narratives have produced: neo-colonialism, colonialism, culture of denial, paranoia, dubious NGOs, color revolutions, regime change, psychedelic operations, economic destabilization, and the destruction of gender, tradition, community, and values. These stories, under the guise of politeness, hypocrisy and patronage, are not only contemptuous of other people, but also of reality. Soft power robs its target of truth, meaning, morality, and all that is sacred.

Today, the empire and its agents are directly involved in the carnage in Gaza and the war in Ukraine. Add to that the ever-increasing campaigns of aggression, harassment and intimidation against real journalists and honest news platforms that report the truth and expose the false narratives of empire, and you see their true colors.

The relentless production of false narratives for the empire's "soft power machine" is a "chronic behavior characterized by a tendency to lie constantly or compulsively." As a result, those in the US leadership soon began to believe their own lies after lying for so long to deceive others. This is slowly sinking the empire into despair.

It is noteworthy that today, against the background of the war in Gaza, the narratives of the "Empire of Lies" are emerging. Even many citizens of the West, realizing the lies and deceptions in politics and not fully realizing the truth, are striving for the other side, for example, Islam.

The bubble of neoliberalism is bursting and people are finding authenticity, sincerity, trust and dignity.