In an era where Western-centric soft power strategies dominate global politics, the soft power practices of non-Western countries are often overlooked. This dominance creates a perception that Western soft power methods are the standard against which all others are measured. As a result, non-Western nations’ unique soft power approaches are frequently marginalized or misunderstood. Nazmul Islam’s work, Power of Bonding and Non-Western Soft Power Strategy in Iran: Comparing China and India’s Engagement, seeks to fill this gap by exploring Joe Nye’s concept of soft power through a non-Western lens, highlighting how the two major non-Western Asian powers, China and India, vie for influence on Iran. Md. Nazmul Islam is a political scientist previously Associate Professor at Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, also serving as the head of Türkiye, Asia, and Indo-Pacific Studies at ULİSA and recently appointed as Ambassador designate of Bangladesh to the Maldives.
The book is divided into eight chapters, each offering a unique perspective on why these strategies are crucial for the region and the world. In the introduction, the overall structure and content of China and India’s Soft Power Strategy are analyzed, and a research methodology that combines quantitative and qualitative techniques is presented, including document analysis, literature reviews, interviews, and surveys.
