CITY BRANDING AND SOFT POWER: HOW DUBAI USES LUXURY MARKETING TO PROJECT ITS GLOBAL IMAGE

Abstract

This thesis examines the strategic connection between city branding, public diplomacy and soft power, using Dubai as a case study. The research draws on contemporary international relations and sociological frameworks such as the theories of Joseph Nye, Simon Anholt, Melissa Aronczyk, Nancy Snow, Nicholas J. Cull, and Crystal Abidin to examine the ways in which the Emirate utilizes hyper-luxury marketing and digital influencer culture to project its global image. From the methodological point of view, the research is a qualitative case-based analysis to assess the mechanisms of creation of an attractive international narrative of Dubai. The analysis reveals Dubai¿s communication as a sophisticated apparatus of state power, not so much through overt propaganda as through a "curation of reality".