Introduction

This chapter introduces the book's central theme, which revolves around the projection of soft and sharp powers through a civilizational populist TV drama series by a hybrid, semi-authoritarian regime and their reception in a friendly country. Through content analysis of all episodes of Turkey’s Islamist civilizational populist historical TV drama series ‘Resurrection: Ertuğrul,’ statements from the Pakistani elite, digital ethnography of Pakistani cyberspace, and semi-structured in-depth interviews with 38 ordinary Pakistani citizens, the book examines how Turkey’s soft and sharp powers have been received by the Pakistani elite and ordinary citizens. The book argues that, in addition to its obvious soft power dimension, the show exerts significant transnational populist sharp power upon its audience, who positively respond to this sharp power with little resistance by the target population. What makes this case significant and perhaps unique is that the sharp projection is taking place between two friendly countries that define their relationship as brotherly. This sharp power shapes or resonates with and boosts some of the Pakistani viewers’ perceptions, emotions, and beliefs by glorifying violence, warfare, militarism, jihadism, martyrdom, and religiously motivated killing. The show also cultivates a conspiratorial mindset, an authoritarian personality cult, and demonizes those disloyal to the leader, presenting the world and political phenomena in a simplistic Manichean antagonistic binary of morally superior ‘us’ versus the evil ‘others,’ consisting of internal and external enemies. Elements such as anti-Christian sentiment, Islamist victimhood, retributive justice through killing, and a strong desire for global conquest are also prominent aspects of the show’s sharp power projection. The book contributes to three distinct literatures: sharp power, populism, and authoritarianism.