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This conceptual article proposes a new integrative model of the country image by drawing on advances from the fields of business studies, social psychology, political science, and communication science. To interrelate different approaches, a communication management perspective is applied, providing a basic terminological framework systemizing the central constructs of country image, country reputation, country brand, and country identity. On this basis the authors develop the ‘4D Model' of the country image by integrating well-established concepts from national identity theory, attitude theory, and reputation management. The new model is suited for application in comparative analyses of country images both on the level of different groups (such as a country’s domestic and foreign publics) as well as different societal levels (such as individual attitudes on the one hand and mass-mediated prestige information on the other). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aims of this article are three-fold. First, it attempts to examine key features of a culturalist discourse reflecting a Confucian vision of a new world order that is being incorporated into China's foreign policy. Second, it analyses and assesses Chinese pragmatic nationalism that underpins an accommodationist foreign policy, contextualized within the ruling Communist Party's comprehensive revamping of itself on a new culturalist basis, in particular with the Hu-Wen leadership in the early years of the 21st century. Third, it examines the role of the press in disseminating the culturalist discourse and assesses its implications. The article concludes that the impact of the Confucian pacifist discourse on external perceptions of China is still limited, due to structural problems existing between China and the West, complexities and inherent tensions within Chinese nationalism and China's internal dynamics of politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication is the basic concept in explaining globalization. Globalization can be observed as the worldwide expansion of a functionally differentiated European society through intercultural communication. In this society, since the 17th century, intercultural communication has assumed the form of a modernist ethnocentrism based on values such as knowledge, pluralism and individualism. During the 20th century, historical changes created the necessity for new forms of intercultural communication. In the last decade of that century, a transcultural form of communication based on dialogue was proposed as a basis for cross-cultural adaptation, a creation of multicultural identities and a construction of a hybrid multicultural society. However, this transcultural form creates paradoxes and difficulties in intercultural communication, mixing the preservation of cultural difference with the search for synthesis. Consequently, a new form of intercultural dialogue, dealing with incommensurable differences and managing conflicts, is needed to create coordination among different cultural perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]