Brigadoon Weekend = Global Street Smarts
February 13, 2021
Soft Power
This edition of Brigadoon Weekend is soft power.
Joseph Nye coined the term soft power in the late 1980s.
Simply put, soft power is a nation's ability to persuade others to do what it wants without force or coercion.
Nye states the world's most successful nations need both hard and soft power -- the ability to coerce others as well as the ability to shape their long-term attitudes and preferences.
Nye initially set out three primary sources of soft power: political values, culture, and foreign policy.
Power in international relations traditionally has been assessed in the easily measurable metrics in inflexible terms - think military and economic might.
Soft power makes use of tactics that are often hard to measure, can take years to bear fruit, and aren't as sexy as a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
But today, soft power matters more than ever and shuns carrots and sticks. Soft power succeeds in building relationships, using communications and storytelling, operating under universal international rules, and harnessing a nation's unique resources that make a country attractive to the greater world.
The United States can undoubtedly dominate others through money and might, but America has excelled in using soft power.
From companies like Apple, foundations like Charity Water, universities like Stanford, to sports leagues like the National Basketball Association, America is a soft power hothouse.
When I read about the Thucydides Trap leading the US and China down a path to increased competition and possibly even war, I think no.
If the US can't succeed with Walt Disney World, Levi's, Tesla, Harvard, Serena Williams, Coca-Cola, Run DMC, Kelly Slater, and Detroit-style pizza, then what are we doing?
Sitting in London Heathrow a few years back, I was observing a family from Norway. The kids dressed in Under Armour, the parents were wearing smart casuals from the GAP, and the entire crew was teched-out in designed-in California Apple swag. It was the all-American family living in Oslo.
US culture and aspirations have been influential in helping the US government secure partners and enhance alliances.
Sure there are limits of soft power: it tends to have diffuse effects like jello, and sometimes it is not skillfully wielded to achieve specific outcomes.
However, US economic success and security hinges as much on winning hearts and minds as it does on winning wars.
Plus, with more of the world easily accessed by trans-continental flights and the internet, countries like Germany, Canada, South Korea, India, and China are all making use of the same tools and tactics to improve their strength and influence.
Game on.
SOFT POWER DEEP DIVE
The benefits of soft power: It is a central paradox of American power: The sheer might of the United States is unquestioned: US troops are stationed in some 130 countries around the globe, and no opposing army would dare to challenge it on a level playing field. But as America's military superiority has increased, its ability to persuade is at low ebb in many parts of the world, even among its oldest allies. In the following remarks, drawn from an address given on March 11, 2004, at the Center for Public Leadership's conference on "Misuses of Power: Causes and Corrections," Joseph S. Nye Jr., Dean [until June 30, 2004] of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government distinguishes between hard power—the power to coerce—and soft—the power to attract.
Monocle's annual soft power survey judges which nations’ soft-power strengths make the grade. Top ten listed below and the full article here.
Top 10:
1. Germany
2. South Korea
3. France
4. Japan
5. Taiwan
6. Switzerland
7. New Zealand
8. Sweden
9. Greece
10. Canada
The growth of soft power in the world’s largest democracy: Isha Prakash writes, in a country with such a vast history as well as such rich culture, heritage, and traditions- the Government of India recognizes and acknowledges the soft power potential. Hence, with just a little effort- this can be utilized optimally to boost international influence.
Under the influence: Christopher Cermak writes isolationism has taken the shine off the perception of the US. But its foreign policy remains tightly interwoven with much of the world. As a new president takes office, what do its allies want?
Hollywood is running out of villains: Kal Raustiala writes what sets the United States apart from the rest of the world is and has always been its soft power. The Soviets may have equaled the Americans in nuclear capability, but they could never rival the appeal of the “American way of life.” And even as China tries to spread its culture across the globe, its rise tends to inspire more trepidation than admiration. Many ingredients combine to give U.S. soft power its strength and reach, but entertainment and culture have always been central to the mix. Film and television have shaped how the world sees the United States—and how it perceives the country’s adversaries. Yet that unique advantage seems to be slipping away. When it comes to some of the great questions of global power politics today, Hollywood has become remarkably timid. On some issues, it has gone silent altogether.
The world China wants: Rana Mitter writes does China want to transform the global order to advance its own interests and to reflect its own image? That may be the most important question in geopolitics today, yet the answers it elicits tend to reveal more about modern biases than they do about what a future Chinese superpower would look like.
Swiss flair: Megan Gibson writes, when it comes to money and diplomacy, Switzerland is an influential global player. But do other aspects of the national brand suit a broader international role? We asked seven of its best about what the future holds.
