Examining Geopolitical Threat: Soft Power Use in Finland and New Zealand

• In Event: Other Forms of Power: Soft Power, Mythology, and Rhetoric in Foreign Policy

Abstract

Employing a most-similar case design, the study examines Finland and New Zealand’s soft power actions to answer the question, why does Finland use more soft power than New Zealand? The article focuses on a new theory based on geopolitical threat to reveal why is Finland such a high soft power user, and New Zealand is not when these two countries should have exhibited similar levels of soft power use but did not. The qualitative analysis finds that a strong perception of a geopolitical threat boosted Finland’s soft power use, while the absence of a similar threat for New Zealand led to a delay in that country’s development of a soft power capacity. The findings and implications for both countries are important in the post-pandemic world.

Authors

• Robert Henry Cox, University of South Carolina

• Judit Trunkos, Robert Morris University