European and Turkish Soft Power Geostrategies in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan

This article examines the European Union’s and Türkiye’s soft power in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan by combining Joseph Nye’s concept of soft power together with William Walters’ framework of geostrategies. William Walters identifies four geostrategies that the EU employs toward its near border to manage the relationship between its internal and external spheres. Building on this, this article aims at a conceptual synthesis by integrating Joseph Nye’s soft power with William Walters’ geostrategies. Thus, this study suggests the concept of “soft power geostrategies” which uses Walters’ geostrategic categories as an operational tool for classifying soft power practices and, therefore, to identify the practical and spatial characteristics of the soft power policies of the actors. It outlines similarities and differences between these two actors through the method of most similar system design and uses directed qualitative content analysis of official documents, policy frameworks, institutional reports, parliamentary resolutions, political speeches, and strategy papers. The findings indicate that both the EU and Türkiye display outward-oriented forms of soft power policies, but with fundamentally different meanings: the EU dwells on normative principles such as democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, while Türkiye emphasizes cultural identity-based affinity.