The image of Croatia from the point of view of Croatian emigrants and their descendants in different parts of the world

Rad se bavi percepcijom i imidžom Hrvatske iz perspektive hrvatskih iseljenika i njihovih potomaka u Europi, Australiji te Sjevernoj i Južnoj Americi. Autori polaze od važnosti imidža zemlje u suvremenim međunarodnim odnosima, te uloge iseljenika u promociji Hrvatske, angažmanu za hrvatske interese u svijetu, kao i mogućnostima povratka, useljavanja i ulaganja. Kako bi taj angažman bio uspješan nužno je poznavanje Hrvatske i njezina suvremenoga identiteta, odnosno praćenje života u njihovoj domovini. Stoga rad donosi rezultate anketnoga istraživanja na uzorku odabranih hrvatskih zajednica na četiri kontinenta, koji se bave razinom informiranosti, načinom informiranja, percepcijom i imidžom Hrvatske, te načinima oblikovanja toga imidža u svijetu. Rad također pokušava odgovoriti na pitanja koliko se imidž Hrvatske razlikuje s obzirom na države i kontinente življenja, dob ispitanika te duljinu življenja izvan domovine.The paper deals with the perception and image of Croatia from the perspective of Croatian emigrants and their descendants in Europe, Australia, and North and South America. The authors start from the importance of the country’s image in contemporary international relations, and the role of emigrants in the promotion of Croatia, engagement for Croatian interests in the world, as well as opportunities for return, immigration and investment. In order for this engagement to be successful, it is necessary to know Croatia and its modern identity, i.e., to follow life in their homeland. Therefore, the paper presents the results of a survey on a sample of selected Croatian communities on four continents, which deal with the level and way of informing, perception and image of Croatia, and ways of shaping this image in the world. The paper also tries to answer the questions of how much the image of Croatia differs with regard to countries and continents of living, the age of the respondents and the length of life abroad