This timely book analyses `soft power¿ in the light of neoclassical realist premises as part of the foreign policy toolkit of great powers to expand their sphere of influence. Vasif Huseynov argues that if nuclear armed great powers compete against the same type of powers to expand or sustain their sphere of influence over a populated region, they use soft power as a major expansive instrument while military power remains a tool to defend themselves and back up their foreign policies. Presenting his model of soft power, the author explores the role of soft power projection by great powers in the formation of the external alignment of regional states. He focuses on the rivalries between Russia and the West (i.e. the EU and the USA) over the states located between the EU and Russia (the region known as the "common [or shared] neighborhood") and on two of these regional states (Ukraine and Belarus) to test his hypotheses.

The author: Dr. Vasif Huseynov studied International Relations, Political Economy, and Political Science in Baku, Kassel, and Göttingen. His research has been supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). He is a research fellow at the Centre for Analysis of International Relations and Lecturer in Politics at the Khazar University in Baku. His articles have appeared in, among other outlets, Caucasus International, CES Working Papers, and Eastern Journal of European Studies. The author of the foreword: Dr. Nicholas Ross Smith is Assistant Professor of International Studies at The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China.