A Hard Look at Soft Power

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Archive on 4: A Hard Look at Soft Power

BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4, A Hard Look at Soft Power

Does soft power still wield force in a time of brutal displays of hard power in Ukraine?

Joseph Nye, who coined the term 'soft power' over 30 years ago, considers how it has evolved in that time and the extent  of its remaining influence as war continues in Ukraine.

Professor Joseph Nye, who served in the Clinton and Carter administrations, came up with the term 'soft power' over thirty years ago, to describe a means of increasing international influence not through military or economic force but through attraction and persuasion. At that point, with the Cold War coming to an end, the United States was undoubtedly the world's true soft power super-power, pushing its political values across the globe through a mixture of diplomacy and both popular and consumer culture.

Since then, of course, much has changed, and Professor Nye considers how instances such as the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the isolationism of Donald Trump and the widespread reporting of mass shootings have tarnished America's soft power, while other countries both democratic and authoritarian have sought to push their own soft power credentials through music, sport and language.

Nye talks with Gavin Esler about the role of soft power during the dying days of the Cold War, and Tony Blair's efforts to corral the UK's leading cultural figures in a bid to bolster its own soft power potential. Professor Ngaire Woods describes the importance of making sure soft power is implemented effectively in order to maintain a united front against Russia in Ukraine. Maria Repnikova charts the varying fortunes of China and South Korea in their sustained efforts to extend their influence through soft power, and Frank Cottrell Boyce recalls the soft-power messages around, for example, the NHS and same-sex relationships that helped re-invent the image of Britain across the world. 

Produced by Geoff Bird

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