The main scientific goal of this proposed paper is to determine and analyse the role of historical and cultural references in Turkish foreign policy, with a particular focus on relations between Turkey and the Western Balkan states (i.e. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia). Under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), priorities and activities of Turkish diplomacy have fundamentally changed, especially after adoption of a new doctrine that developed a framework for Turkey to become a regional power. In this context, the AKP’s political strategy has been rooted in history and tradition, highlighting the importance of a shared past for contemporary relations between all territories that once belonged to the Ottoman Empire. Accordingly, the Western Balkans is one of the regions that Turkey has been targeting with various community-building initiatives for more than two decades. Against this background, government-controlled institutions (e.g. TİKA, Yunus Emre Institute, Diyanet, YTB, Maarif Foundation), tasked with promoting Turkish political values abroad, provide important support to traditional diplomatic services.

By adopting a comprehensive research perspective, this proposed paper aims to explore the formation of Turkey’s relationship with the Western Balkans, taking actions of Turkish public diplomacy organisations in the region as a reference point. The image theory in international relations, which allows for examining trends and tendencies in foreign policy, was selected as a theoretical framework in this study. Having reviewed available original sources (official documents, public reports, interviews and speeches of AKP politicians) as well as literature on the subject (academic publications, policy briefs), the key areas of Turkey's engagement in the Western Balkans were identified. In addition, an analysis of semi-structured expert interviews with relevant stakeholders from the Western Balkans (including think tank researchers, NGO activists, academics), conducted in order to measure local perceptions of Turkish involvement in the region, was also fundamental for this research. Based on qualitative research methodology (e.g. content analysis, political discourse analysis, process tracing method), this paper seeks to assess the effectiveness of Turkish activities to date, and attempts to predict future directions in Turkey's partnership with the Western Balkans.

The article presents a multidisciplinary analysis of France’s historical and contemporary role in the Western Balkans. Reflecting on its engagement in the interwar period and in the Cold War it unpacks its role in the current EU enlargement process. Drawing on a novel dataset of presidential visits, the study provides new insights into patterns of contemporary French engagement in the region, historically acting as a cordon sanitaire against external threats like German expansion and Russian influence, particularly during the interwar period, and as a platform for French presidents to advance Gaullist ambitions and reassert the nation's independence in the Cold war era.

In recent years, following a prolonged period of disengagement, France's foreign policy toward the Western Balkans has undergone a significant shift. In 2019, France vetoed the candidate status of Albania and North Macedonia for EU membership, signalling a reluctance to further enlargement. However, it seems that the Russian aggression renewed French interest in the region, driven by strategic concerns akin to those of the interwar era. France's re-engagement is positioned within a broader geopolitical context, wherein the Balkans once again represent a buffer zone against instability and external influence, particularly from Russia and China.

By integrating historical analysis with contemporary political developments, the article sheds light on the country’s role within the EU enlargement process in the Western Balkan region. The qualitative analysis explores a unique dataset of French presidential visits and speeches in the Western Balkans from 2005-2024, providing a comprehensive understanding of France's evolving attitude towards the region since its inclusion in the EU enlargement agenda along with the actual and potential consequences.

Over the last few decades, soft power has been assuming an increasing role in the field of International Relations, whether in the theoretical aspect, as a fundamental concept for the discipline, given the importance that numerous authors recognize in understanding many contemporary political phenomena, or in the most practical aspect, namely in terms of defining the foreign policy and diplomatic strategies of many states. The research work presented here, developed within the scope of the Doctoral Program in Political Science and International Relations of the University of Minho, aims precisely to analyze the role of soft power, as an instrument of contemporary Portuguese foreign policy, in projecting the global influence of Portugal. Based on the premise that soft power has been one of the best means that small and medium-size states use to assert their interests in the international political arena, this research seeks to outline new horizons that allow for a broader understanding of the relevance of this form of exercising power in the sphere of Portuguese foreign policy in the period between 2016 and 2024.

Specialisation has been recognised as an important foreign policy tool for small states in the context of international organisations. Specialisation on some regions or topics helps small states concentrate resources and increase their ability to influence negotiations despite their structure disadvantage. But specialisation on some regions or topics also means resignation on others. As with any other decision, the decision to specialise is subject to politics and can become an object of domestic contestation.

This paper compares the domestic contestation in two member states of the European Union, Austria and Czechia. Both countries’ foreign policy in the EU has incorporated a distinct and visible specialisation. While Austria has been a recognised leader in the Balkans, Czechia has invested a lot of political capital into the EU’s policy on Eastern Europe. The paper will investigate the domestic political debates in both countries to answer the following questions: Who are the actors contesting the specialisation? What arguments do they use, and what other preferences do they express? How is the specialisation defended by its proponents? Is the contestation driven by alternative foreign policy visions or prospects of domestic political gains? Empirically, the paper will build on discourse analysis of parliamentary debates in both countries, contributing to the literature on small states and foreign policy analysis.