Towards a new conditionality? : The convergence of international development, nation brands and soft power in the British National Security Strategy

Nation brands are intended to act as vehicles for economic development. However, the role of the nation brands of developed countries in shaping the economic development of developing countries has not been explored to the same degree. Using the example of Britain’s 2010 National Security Strategy, this article argues that the two-decade long decline in conditional aid has been superseded by efforts to influence developing countries through coordinated aid, diplomatic, commercial and security strategies. Such strategies seek to use brand identities to transpose influence between different societal sectors of developing countries, thus pursuing structural influence over developing societies through post-conditional techniques. This article therefore positions nation brands as a key component of contemporary soft power strategies, which are intended to stimulate growth, instigate infrastructural reform, assert ideational norms, and promote the donor country as a partner of choice. As such, it presents a unique perspective on the coordinated application of brands and aid as complementary tools of soft power