Role and Significance of the United Arab Emirates Foreign Aid for Its Soft Power Strategy and Sustainable Development Goals
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The main thesis of this article links one country donations with soft power strategy and Sustainable Development Goals. The article itself seems part of a campaign of diplomatic relations or soft power.
In the point 2. some elements are not properly quoted.
It is referred as "the author" to refer to the author of this article and it is prefered other formulation.
The article is mainly descriptive. The explanation of the notion of soft power should be clearly improved. Donations or some economic measures can be also a case of hard power according to Nye(2004).
The connections between donations and soft power and SDO should be clearly reinforced. More theoretical development is needed with these concepts.
Author Response
Thank you very much for the comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the manuscript.
- In point 2. some elements which were not properly quoted, have been updated.
- “the author” to refer to the author of this article has been changed to another formulation.
- The explanation of the notion of soft power has been improved. Donations or some economic measures can be also a case of hard power according to Nye (2004) is added in the current line 302-303.
- The connections between donations and soft power and SDGs have been reinforced. These concepts based on theory have developed in the lines: 530-534; 560-564; 643-647; 649-664; 687-694.
Reviewer 2 Report
Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this well-written paper. It is a well-structured paper, with timely subject to study. Saying this, I would like to share some thoughts to improve the paper:
1) I was not quite sure regarding the originality of the paper. Methodologically, the paper states that it adopts 'role theory and other tools' (and etc.). However, in the discussion I found limited reference to the theory, which might be useful to further develop the argument. Moreover, data collection is mainly based on English sources, the paper might be strengthen by including sources in Arabic and other European languages.
2) The author does not include details on humanitarian aid during COVID-19 pandemic (although explains this in the conclusion). I believe, this will add to the argument, as the UAE emerged as one of world leaders on its foreign aid policies during the pandemic (at least during the first wave). The UAE also offered a lot of foreign aid to the EU. There are detailed reports by the UAE government in English and Arabic on the subject, including academic literature.
3) The manuscript also might benefit significantly from contribution of Khaled Al Mezaini 'The UAE and Foreign Aid: Foreign Aid, Identities, and Interests', Routledge: Abingdon, 2012.
Author Response
Thank you very much for the comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the manuscript.
1) The discussion has been developed by more reference to the adopted theories (lines: 530-534; 560-564; 687-694). Moreover, data collection has been strengthened by sources in Arabic and other European languages (lines: 626-628; 643-647;665-670; 680-686).
2) The author added point 3 Humanitarian Aid during COVID-19 Pandemic (lines: 648-694).
3) The manuscript included publication: Almezaini, Khalid S. 2011. The UAE and Foreign Policy: Foreign Aid, Identities and Interests. Florence: Taylor & Francis Group.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
You need to specify if the new definition of soft power and hard power is relevant for your article thesis.
Author Response
The understanding of soft power and its scope in this manuscript has been clarified in added lines: 316-320.
Reviewer 2 Report
n/a
Author Response
Thank you so much for your great comments and suggestions. I improved the manuscript's English language and style, too.
