(This is an archived page, from the Patterns of Power Edition 3 book. Current versions are at book contents).
It is possible to pursue a policy of persuasion, 'soft power', in preference to either coercion or competition. Joseph Nye has popularised the use of the term through his book Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. In chapter 4, he defined three "dimensions" of what he called “public diplomacy”:
“The first and most immediate dimension is daily communications, which involves explaining the context of domestic and foreign policy decisions.
…The second dimension is strategic communication, in a set of simple themes …, much like what occurs in a political or advertising campaign. The campaign plans symbolic events and communications over the course of a year to reinforce the central themes, or to advance a particular government policy.
The third stage of public diplomacy is the development of lasting relationships with key individuals over many years through scholarships, exchanges, training, seminars, conferences, and access to media channels.”
All of these activities can be supported with government funding.
Nye cites public service broadcasting in foreign languages as an example of his first dimension of public diplomacy. He argues that America should spend more on the Voice of America channel.
Propaganda, which corresponds to Nye's 'second dimension', has been used ever since the invention of the printing press – but has now acquired a much greater potency with the Internet and social media (6.3.3.7). Nye mentions the difficulty of maintaining consistent “advertising” themes:
“For example, in the 1990s while the British Council heavily promoted Britain as a modern, multiethnic and creative island, another government agency, the British Tourist Authority, was busily advertising British tradition, ceremony, and history.”
Soft power enables a country to be attractive to others, in pursuit of a political agenda. In his lecture (cited previously), Soft Power: the Means to Success in World Politics, he explained:
“If you can get others to be attracted, to want what you want, it costs you much less in carrots [such as economic inducements] and sticks [such as military intervention].”
He cited the example of Turkish refusal to let American troops cross its territory when invading Iraq in 2003, "because the United States had become so unpopular, its policies perceived as so illegitimate, that they were not willing to allow the transfer of troops across the country". The delay was costly. "Neglect of soft power had a definite negative effect on hard power."
Soft power is compatible with a policy of supporting a rules-based world order (6.7.7.2) and, as has already been mentioned, it can be used to exert international moral influence (4.3.5.6). A country’s soft power is diminished if it loses political legitimacy with its own population (6.3.5.1), or if it breaches human rights (6.3.7), or if it has a coercive foreign policy (6.7.7.1).