The Decline of American Soft PowerJosé Niño
17 Mar 2022
With Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine and China continuing to grow as a credible peer competitor to the United States on both economic and military fronts, plenty of ink has been spilt speculating about what America's future looks like. The primary theme of these speculative think pieces tends to be militaristic in nature. China invading Taiwan and escalating tensions in the South China Sea and Russia expanding its current campaign in Ukraine into a broader European war are some of the scenarios being floated.
Hard military power is the coin of the realm in international relations. It’s what historians write and debate about for centuries on end, and what storytellers try to vividly portray in theatric or digital form. There are many valid questions to be asked about where the US currently stands with regards to its military power.
However, what’s more interesting is the status of the America's soft power. Political scientist Joseph Nye coined the term “soft power” and popularized its usage in international relations circles after publishing an article in Foreign Policy in 1990 where he fleshed out the concept. In essence, soft power refers to a country’s capacity to persuade other countries to do what it desires without resorting to brute force or coercion.
* * *
Since the conclusion of World War II, the US has been adept in its use of soft power. Its companies, foundations, popular culture, universities, and religious institutions have moved mountains in terms of spreading American values and making the country look like an attractive partner without having to solely rely on military force to influence other countries’ behavior.
America's multi-faceted approach to project its power abroad allowed it to become the most powerful polity in human history. While the US pulled off major military feats by coming out victorious in conflicts such as World War I and World War II, in addition to outlasting the Soviet Union during the Cold War, the US success story is more than one of sheer military might.
* * *
Americans should be proud of their country’s fantastic accomplishments. Though this could all be in jeopardy because of new cultural and political trends that are gaining steam in academic, business, and political circles.
The growing embrace of wokism and other diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives presents a unique threat to the US both domestically and internationally. At its core, DEI is raw cronyism pure and simple. It’s all about rewarding jobs and benefits to people based on tribal grounds, with no consideration of merit. A country that wants to maintain its superpower status must be firing on all cylinders. When cronyism is embraced on a mass scale in both the private and public spheres, stagnation and decay begin to ensue.
Moreover, the constant obsession about people’s race, gender, and lifestyle habits is not a sign of a healthy society. This type of internal tension will inevitably bleed into other facets of American public policy that foreign onlookers will be observing with interest, if not outright horror.
* * *
It will take serious leadership on all fronts—academic, business, cultural, and government—to recognize the problems the US faces and build proactive solutions. The US will need to go back to basics and understand what made it great. It will need to trim out the excess fat it has accumulated after gorging on the pig trough that is wokism and start going back to its meritocratic roots.
The 21st century will be filled with a unique set of challenges in fields ranging from national security to technological independence. The US clearly won the 20th century, but the 21st century may turn out differently. Arrogantly brushing these concerns aside could be the first step in ensuring that the US ends up in the soup kitchen of mediocrity and becomes another nation marked by perpetual instability and unrest. The US can still avoid such a fate, but it will require a full-blown reckoning with its woke demons.
-- * --
Source:
https://quillette.com/2022/03/17/is-americas-soft-power-declining/
