S1 Introduction to American soft power Flashcards
With great power comes great responsibility
The US presence is not always welcome (military or film industry)
What is power ?
The ability for people or countries to get what they want easily
World cloud around POWER
Powerlessness powerful powers powerless empowered
8 synoyms of POWER
Command strenght control authority dominion might force influence
What is smart power ?
Combination ot hard and soft power (solution explored to find the right way to get what you want according to the context)
What do foreign relations rely on ?
They rely heavily on the notion of power (they have or think they have)
What is hard power ?
Hard power is exerted via violent methods (war or weapons)
What is soft power ?
Soft power relies ont diplomacy and discussions (influenced by admiration or respect one country might have for the other)
Example of US smart power
Obama in Libya in 2011 (protector of democracy and asked Congress first)
New kind of soft power
Jacinda Ardern (NZ PM) in 2020 following mass shooting (NZ largest terror event) donned a hijab and spoke against racism and division
Is soft power always established ?
No il fluctuates according to the relationships between the world leaders and international events and the persona of the leaders
Who is Joseph Nye ?
He served as Assistant Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton (American President between 1992 2000)
Why did the US become world leader after WWII ?
Because its military power was hard to challenge (before Nye s theory about soft power 1990 and 2004 hard power (nuclear) was considered to be the main asset ie valuable thing)
Hard power defined by Joseph Nye
Hard power can rest on inducements (carrots) or threats (sticks)
What is the carrot ? Nye
Situation in which one country offers something appealing to another one (carrot) but it involves sacrifice or compromise.
What is the stick ? Nye
The stick refers to the use of force or command (ability to change what others do) or coercion
POWER defined by Nye
The ability for actors to achieve their preferred outcomes
Soft power defined by Nye
It is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments. It arises from the attractiveness of a countrys culture and political ideals and policies. When you can get others to admire your ideals and to want what you want you do not have to spend as much on sticks and carrots to move them in your direction. Seduction is always more effective than coercion and many values like democracy human rights and individual opportunities are deeply seductive.
What are the 3 areas of soft power ? (Nye)
Culture, political values and foreign policies
Define foreign policies
Decisions that world leaders make in order to interact with foreign countries (can affect their reputation and improve or deteriorate relations with other nations)
Example of successful soft power strategy
Argentina 1976 (Jorge Rafael Videla and the Dirty War)
Example of unsuccessful foreign policy for Nye
9/11 (The means the Bush administration chose focused too heavily on hard power and did not take enough account of soft power and that is a mistake because it is through soft power that terrorists gain general support as well as new recruits)
UNESCO definition of culture
Preamble to the Universal Declaratio on Cultural Diversity (2001)
Lane Crothers definition of culture
Root values and ideas and assumptiuns and behaviors and attitudes that members of particular communities share in an unexamined automatic way (things culture teach their members are normative standards of evaluation of dress or food or behavior or attitudes or ideas etc)
Which social indices show american soft power for Nye ?
Foreign immigrants and foreign students and scholars in American universities (Nobel prizes and scientific articles and book publications and TV films music websites)
The Big Four or GAFA
Google Apple Facebook and Amazon
Exchanges of cultural products for Lane Crothers
Or CP are like any others and can circulate freely or they need to be protected so cultural diversity does not disappear
3 problems people fear according to Lane Crothers
Cultural corruption and imperialism and homogenization
What is cultural corruption ?
School of Frankfurt (city life corrupted people because they were exposed to brothels and crime and diseases and consumerism and individualism) far from the rural ideal of community life
What is imperialism ?
Fear that a dominant culture will erase another one (The Hispanic Challenge and the Mexican reconquista)
What is homogenization ?
Fear that the presence of American companies in foreign countries will overshadow local companies (we will end up eating the same thing and reading the same thing and wearing the same thing)
