EUSPOWER

 The Module project on "The EU’s Soft Power Tools and Enlargement: Balkans and Turkey" is called EUSPOWER. EUSPOWER’s central theme is to examine the impacts of the EU’s soft power tools in the Balkans and Turkey since 1989 by studying and teaching the subject. We have witnessed the impact of US soft power tools in Turkey and the Balkans during the Cold War, but after the dissolution of socialist governments, the European Union has emerged as a major soft power in both contexts. The EU enlargement towards the Balkans and Turkey has not been a political process only but involved a great deal of investment in education, culture, healthcare, humanitarian aids and infrastructure. Despite the presence of US and Russian hard power, the EU has carefully employed several soft power tools that helped the Union maintain its being a major actor in both contexts. Citizens, NGOs, and several other institutions from the Balkan countries and Turkey received a significant amount of EU backing so that a stronger connection with the EU institutions and values could be upheld. Departing from the lacuna in the literature and the practice, this project aims: i) to examine the EU’s soft power tools in both contexts ii) to investigate the impact of non-diplomatic agencies in EU enlargement iii) disseminate that knowledge to other interested individuals, and entities (i.e. universities, think-tanks etc.) MA and BA students along with university academic and teaching personnel as well as policymakers are the main target group for the EUSPOWER. EUSPOWER’s activities aim to provide active outreach to a broader society beyond academia.