Projecting soft power through sport, which countries hit the target?
Ahead of a new country ranking launch, Geosport asks ten important questions about the countries that might appear in it
On 2nd April, SKEMA Publika (with which Geosport’s founders have been working), will produce its first annual sport and soft power ranking.
The question we answer is: which countries are the world's best at projecting soft power through sport?
Compiled over twelve months, the ranking employed a methodology that involved sixty experts globally, assessing fifty-five countries using ten criteria.
The ranking will be a top-25 of countries that do it the best, and a list of thirty other countries that were considered for inclusion.
Once published, the full ranking and an accompanying report will be available via SKEMA Publika’s website.
Ahead of the ranking’s publication, we pose ten questions (in no particular order) for readers to consider:
Which country tops the ranking, which others have performed well, and which miss out?
After spending heavily on sport over the last decade, is Saudi Arabia now a soft power giant?
Following France’s staging of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, has its soft power stature been enhanced?
In East Asia, is China, Japan, or South Korea better at playing the sport and soft power game?
Despite its exclusion from several sports, does Russia maintain any soft power influence through its involvement in sport?
Following the recent formation of its new soft power council, is British sport now better placed to lead in projecting the country’s soft power?
How important is sport in shaping the global attractiveness of Brazil and Argentina, especially given some domestic challenges that both countries face?
Are countries such as Rwanda, Morocco, and Egypt leading an African soft power revolution?
Given the chaos and uncertainty so far of Donald Trump’s second presidential term in office, how important will sport be to US soft power?
In the coming years, will soft power continue to be a potent policy instrument or, in an increasingly fractious world, are we entering an era of smart power?
Further details about the ranking will be published on Geosport in the coming weeks.