The war of soft power

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan have led to serious discussions about which superpower in the world is becoming more powerful.  There are those who believe that China is on the way to overtaking the US as the most powerful nation in the world.

The question is in terms of geopolitics, but what is the meaning of power? The common definition of power is getting other nations to do what you want. However, American political scientist Joseph Nye in his book “Bound to Lead” defines “soft power” as more powerful than “hard power,” which is military and economic power. He defines “soft power” as getting others to want what you want. He therefore argues that aside from its military and economic prowess, the US enjoyed a massive advantage over any potential rivals because of its tremendous soft power which is based on intangible resources like culture and ideology.

In recent times, the two biggest users of soft power have been the United Kingdom and the United States. In fact, these two powers have lost in the use of hard power but have retained global influence through the use of soft power.

For example, the US, when it used hard power in its wars, lost in the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan. A few years before that, the US also lost in Vietnam and was unable to conquer Cuba when it depended solely on hard power. China also was forced to retreat when it tried to invade militarily Vietnam in 1979. The UK was able to establish an empire “when the sun never set” principally through its superior naval forces.

After the Second World War when the colonies in the British Empire began to declare independence, it was assumed that this small island nation of the United Kingdom would lose its global influence. However, these same former colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations organized by the UK, composed of all its colonies. This time, these nations joined voluntarily, allowing the UK to exercise influence beyond its military and economic power.

The concept of hard power vs. soft power actually goes back to ancient Greece. The Greek historian Thucydides wrote about the Peloponnesian War in 432 BC in which a group of city-states led by Sparta was in conflict with another group of city-states led by Athens. It was clear that in terms of military or hard power, the Spartans were way ahead of the Athenians. In its history of the war, Thucydides wrote about how Corinth, an ally of Sparta, accused the Spartans of turning a blind eye to the superior soft power of Athens. Primarily, Athens posed a danger not because of the size of its navy nor the richness of its soil nor the number of its people. It was a threat because of its ability to replace Sparta as the dominant power because of the superior qualities of its social and political system. It was a clear example of soft power overcoming hard power.

There are many examples in the last century of nations failing to expand its global influence because of its dependence on hard power.  Among these examples are Germany, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, Japan. Another example is Russia’s failure to hold on to its conquest of eastern Europe and its failure in its invasion of Ukraine.

In contrast, the US through soft power has been able to gain worldwide influence.  According to German commentator Joseph Joffe:  “Americans’ soft power isn’t just pop and schlock; its cultural clout is both high and low. It is a grunge and Google, Madonna and MoMA, Hollywood and Harvard.”

In the ongoing conflict between the two superpowers, the US and China, it is clear that they are using different methods in applying soft power. As I mentioned, the two areas are in culture and ideology.  China has so far utilized state-owned institutions to advance its culture and ideology. For example, the Communist Party of China and the state-owned media have tried to expand their influence by setting up cultural and language centers known as Confucius Institutes, which have been established in 162 countries. Its higher education has also tried to recruit foreign students and scholars.

On the other hand, American soft power is largely shaped by private sector cultural exports such as Hollywood films, hip hop music and style, and globally recognized brands such as Coca-Cola, MacDonald’s and Starbucks.  Educational institutions in the US such as Harvard, Yale, MIT and in the UK such as Oxford and Cambridge continue to be the preference of almost the entire world.

All their manifestations of Anglo-American culture in the fields of music, literature and the arts continue to remain much more attractive than competing cultural manifestations from Russia and China. It can only be concluded that in terms of soft power, the US is way ahead of other competing powers.

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Write Things’ Zoom classes for November: Nov 19, 10:30 am to noon, last class for adult writers for the year with facilitator Dinah Roma on the art of poetry; Nov 26, 2-3 pm, Young Writers’ Hangout with returning facilitator Susan Lara. Contact [email protected]. 0945.2273216

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