Opravy

Introduction The present paper deals with one of the most controversial issues in the world of politics – “soft power” and information policy.

Nowadays, “soft power” is one of the most cunning questions which concern every political expert deeply for more than several decades.

The beginning of the XXI century is the time when this time of “power” has become one of the major factors in foreign and domestic policy of the state, when authorities successfully use information campaigns to reach their goals.

The overall idea pf this research consists in reviewing specific features in information policy of the United Kingdom in general and for the period of Scottish Independence Referendum in general. Topicality.

If talk about topicality of this research we can say that economic pressure could harm the state itself, which force the country’s government to turn to alternative sources of influence, based, primarily, on the media.

Research questions.

The general aims of this research are as follows: • To define historic background and content of the term “soft power” • To review the use of the tools of “soft power” in the United Kingdom policy.

• To study the British media as an instrument of “the soft power” policy in the United Kingdom, based on BBC News Literature review.

The theoretical basis of the research are found in the works of MSU professors T.G.Dobrosklonskaya, O.U.Zakkarova, E.G.Sheigal, A.N.Baranova, V.Z.

Demyankov, M.N. Volodina, N.I.

Klushina, L.V.Postnikova, G.U. Solganik.

The history of the Great Britain is found in the works of D.R.Grin, S.G.

Malkin, A.Gromiko, N.V.Eremina, A.V.Torkhunov.

In BBC News articles are found examples of tools and techniques of information policy.

Structure of the Graduation Paper The Paper consists of three logically arranged parts.

The Chapter I deals with theoretical and methodological aspects of “soft power” The Chapter II deals with historical aspects of relationships between London and Edinburg Chapter III deals with study of information campaign against Scottish Independence Referendum during 2011 to 2014. Results.

In the course of the study, the following results have been obtained: • The “soft power” is a political phenomenon brought to life by media in general and by journalists in particular.

• BBC News remains the most powerful “soft power” tool in the United Kingdom.

• Scotland didn’t have economic or political potential to become an independent country as presented by the British media. Conclusion.

To sum up, Scottish Independence Referendum showed that now BBC has become a powerful instrument of shaping public opinion.

However, Scotland has economic potential to become an independent country and the government of the Great Britain will face this challenge once again.