Image Of The Country Strategic Research

National image, as a key variable in the studies of international relations, plays an increasingly important strategic role in the contemporary world. It is not only part of the national interest, but also the tool to pursue and maintain national interest. In the global competition, the strategic significance of the national image has become so evident that countries are striving to redefine, adjust and reshape it in their international strategy. In the process of national image building and communication, the developing countries are at a disadvantageous position in the global system dominated by the US-led Western countries, which tightly control international media and make them a tool to distort and vilify the images of developing countries including China, which constitutes an important part of their international strategy. It is of great theoretical and practical significance for rising China to reflect on how to build a good national image, enhance the recognition of China's rise, and avoid being surrounded and contained in the international community, so that a more stable and friendly external environment could be created. However, the research on the strategy of the national image at home and abroad has had deficiencies in both macro theories and methodology, and cannot adequately meet the needs of developing realities. Therefore further studies on the subject have become a pressing task in the studies of national strategy.The basic objectives of the research are to build a tentative theoretical framework for understanding China's national image strategy, to trace its historical evolution in the thinking and practice over the past 60 years, and to conclude with designing the Chinese image strategy in the future. Hence, this dissertation is logically divided into three parts. The first is the theoretical part including the first five chapters of the dissertation. This section provides a theoretical basis of the whole dissertation, which focuses on exploring the conception, role, and significance of national image in the national strategy. On the basis, it proposes a strategic framework for the country's image from interdisciplinary perspectives such as international politics, strategic studies, image science, and communication. National image strategy is both an art and science to mobilize all national forces and resources to create a favorable international image. The key elements for the strategy include the strategic objectives, strategic resources, strategic environment, strategic positioning and strategic implementation, which involve the image construction and crisis management. These elements constitute the major contents of the framework for national image strategy.The second part, consisting of Chapter VI, mainly traces the thinking and practice of national image over the history of New China from Mao period, to Deng Xiaoping period and to the post cold War era, draws lessons from the history, and explores the characteristics and cores of China's national image strategies to guide the work to design the strategy in the future. The sixty years of New China has not only been a process of hard exploring and constructing a path to modernization, but also the process of shaping the national image, which has formed a number of features, that become the precious heritage for China's national image strategy. In this process, Chinese leaders set up and formed the strategic goals of building a modern country with characteristics of the times and developing realities, and constantly enriched the connotations of this goal. Although the leaders'personality, as well as domestic and international conditions, change over time, socialism, big developing country, and peace have been the keywords on the country's image; enhancing comprehensive national strength, external publicity and diplomacy are the important ways to construct the national image.The third part, Chapter VII, mainly analyzes the current conditions of China's national image, references lessons from the experiences of China and other countries, and put forwards some proposals on China's national image strategy in the coming 10 years on the basis of the framework in the previous chapter. Strategic planning on the future national image should adhere to the judge of important strategic opportunity period, and persist in the pursuit for the objectives of a prosperous, democratic and civilized modern country. Based on historic traditions and the current situation, the future China image should be positioned in several important aspects: the economic image of reform and opening up, the political image of democracy and progress, the social image of a harmonious and civilized society, the diplomatic image of peace, development, cooperation and big developing country as well as military image of peace and transparency. On the level of the strategic practice, we should further strengthen the reform and opening up, and build a higher level of well-off society, with particular attention to several key areas: strengthening the ruling party's and the government's own building, improving the government capabilities for crisis management, establishing a new image of the government, improving the national quality, culturing people's big country mentality international awareness and image awareness, fostering a number of influential international businesses and brands, strengthening national brand image building; further promote the image diplomacy, improve the administration's diplomacy and non-governmental diplomacy to play a unique role in shaping the national image; develope public diplomacy, particularly strengthen cultural diplomacy and international public relations. Further, we should strengthen the media, and raise its international influence: enhancing the reform and development of the international communication departments, changing communication idea, and improving communication skills, and increasing the international influence of external communication work.On the research methods, the dissertation seeks to integrate a variety of research methods, with emphasis on combining theory with practice. In terms of methodology, it combines quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, historical analysis, and empirical research. In theory, it bases on international politics and strategic learning theory, and absorbs into the study the methods and theories of the image science, psychology, communications, public relations disciplines, etc. On a practical level, it draws lesson from the experience and practice and puts forward countermeasures and suggestions.