International Students, Nation Branding and the Good Country Index: Turkey Example

Today, international education and international students are complementary to the diplomatic understanding of states, in that they export their positive images to the world through the international students that they host. The concept of nation branding, which is a manifestation of states | soft power politics, also plays an important role in this positive image construction. In this context, the | Good Country Index | developed by Simon Anholt, one of the scales used to measure the positive images of countries within the international system, is the basis of this study. In this study, it is aimed to monitor Turkey’s position in the Good Country Index considering the country’s positive image and international student experience. According to the Index’s results under the related category of international students, Turkey has a stable position in 2016 and 2017 results but has an increasing trend at overall ratings.