Last week, we discussed soft power in Asia. The Center for Strategic and International Studies recently published a report on China’s soft power and the implications for the United States. The authors highlight China’s projection of soft power – through investment, humanitarian aid, exchange programs, diplomacy and participation in multilateral institutions – in Africa, the Americas, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
According to the report, China “currently lacks a coordinated national soft-power strategy and views its soft power as defensive and largely reactive, a point of view intended to allay fears in other states of a Chinese threat.” A debate is underway in the US questioning whether China’s soft power creates “healthy competition or a strategic threat.”
Despite China’s military and economic rise, the country’s soft power remains relatively low.
“Although Beijing has devoted significant effort to increasing its soft-power capability, the extent to which China’s soft power has actually increased is often exaggerated. Two recent public opinion studies conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Pew Global Attitudes Project suggest that China’s real soft-power achievements are not as impressive as some analysts suggest…
“The soft power of the United States still exceeds that of China by a substantial margin, even in China’s own neighborhood.”
Photo from Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.
