Joseph Nye, Soft Power, foreign policy, international diplomacy, war on terror (original) (raw)

From the refusal to accede to a variety of international treaties to the current conflict in Iraq, the U.S. has pursued its own interests despite widespread foreign objections.

While American people and culture continue to be viewed very favorably, the U.S. government is viewed increasingly unfavorably and finds it increasingly difficult and costly to achieve its objectives.

"There are choices to be made about how broadly or narrowly we define our national interest, as well as the means by which we pursue it."

• The U.S. is no longer the only game in town with respect to pop culture, Nye points out. Pop culture is very changeable and is not controllable. Other nations are increasingly participating in the worldwide transmission of pop culture.
• Liberal immigration policies have long been of great advantage for U.S. soft power.

  "Foreigners can envisage themselves as Americans, and many successful Americans 'look like' them. Moreover, connections of individuals in the diasporas such as the Indian and Chinese with their countries of origin help to convey accurate and positive information about the United States."

  Austrian mothers now encourage their children to be good and study hard in school, so that they too might grow up to be the Governor of California!

• Government policies have a powerful positive or negative impact on foreign perceptions of the U.S. Some have both positive and negative impacts - varying with variances in the existing beliefs of foreign groups. Patriarchal societies feel threatened by the libertine influences that attract their young. Many peoples are attracted by U.S. prosperity but fear the lack of security and resent the income inequality of the relatively free market system. (They do not understand that the high level of prosperity is impossible without reasonably free labor markets.)
• The substance and style of domestic polices has an impact on foreign perceptions. Nye again points out that U.S. policies on gun control and capital punishment deviate from European norms. Since 9/11/01, stricter Visa procedures and suspicions of Muslims has hurt the image of the U.S. Vocal criticism of the Muslim religion by some Christian clerics has provided grist for anti-American propaganda mills in Muslim nations. He recognizes that domestic political interests are frequently too strong and fervent to be swayed by criticism from abroad, but emphasizes that the connection between domestic policies and foreign perceptions will have an impact on U.S. public diplomacy.

Nye does not discuss the obvious question about the degree to which the U.S. should permit its desire for worldwide approval to dictate its internal policies. The adversaries of the U.S. will always make propaganda use of whatever they can. That they will find much to be displeased with is inevitable, given the freedom and complexity of the U.S.
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To consciously adopt policies unpopular at home to appease critics and opponents abroad is a fools game. Nor is it possible to marginalize major belief groups, much less restrict free speech. That there are beliefs in Muslim nations that retard the progress of the Muslim peoples - and some that are dangerous to the world - is beyond question - and deserves repeated criticism.
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Should the U.S. back off on women's rights to appease Muslim sensibilities? After all, the advancement of women's rights is one of the primary complaints against the West used for recruitment of terrorists.
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Soft power is certainly important, and its conscious development and use obviously wise. However, the realities of the U.S. have always on balance proven very attractive worldwide despite vigorous propaganda efforts by determined adversaries. FUTURECASTS has no doubt that this will continue to be the case, without the need for hand-wringing about individual domestic policies.

• The substance and style of foreign policy is also a powerful factor. Policies based on broadly shared values are more likely to attract cooperation. "Federalism, democracy and open markets" were the widely shared values upon which the Cold War alliances were built. Shared values in the 21st century include international order, control of weapons of mass destruction, inhibiting terrorism and illicit drugs, and promoting trade, economic growth and environmental causes.

Foreign perceptions of the U.S. have declined considerably in the past few years as a result of various actions taken by the U.S. in the international arena that are unpopular abroad. From the refusal to accede to a variety of international treaties to the current conflict in Iraq, the U.S. has pursued its own interests despite widespread foreign objections.
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This substantial loss of soft power has high costs economically, militarily, and diplomatically. While American people and culture continue to be viewed very favorably, the U.S. government is viewed increasingly unfavorably and finds it increasingly difficult and costly to achieve its objectives.

"All countries pursue their national interests in foreign policy, but there are choices to be made about how broadly or narrowly we define our national interest, as well as the means by which we pursue it. After all, soft power is about mobilizing cooperation from others without threats or payments. Since it depends on the currency of attraction rather than force or payoffs, soft power depends in part on how we frame our own objectives. Policies based on broadly inclusive and far-sighted definitions of the national interest are easier to make attractive to others than policies that take a narrow and myopic perspective."

• Assistance to poor countries is an important source of soft power. Evaluating the mix of U.S. policies that impact poor countries - such as aid, investment, migration and environmental policies, peacekeeping, and protectionist measures that restrict markets for the products of poor nations - particularly textiles and agriculture. Nye refers to an "index" devised by an advocacy group that (not surprisingly) finds the U.S. lacking.

Such evaluations are frequently offered by advocacy groups that twist the data for propaganda purposes. The "index" referred to by Nye omits such favorable factors as the massive extent of private charitable giving in the U.S. that is several times greater than government foreign aid. It undervalues the importance of U.S. leadership in globalization, and fails to acknowledge that the primary problem with poor countries is their own poor governance.
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Providing aid to poorly governed nations is like pouring money down a sewer. Little benefit reaches the people. See, Theroux,"Dark Star Safari."
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These dubious "indexes" typically emphasize the U.S. contribution to environmental pollutants while omitting consideration that the U.S. is the primary producer of the world's goods and services, and that the pollutants measured as a percentage of the value produced is quite low.
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U.S. protectionism that blocks the meager exports of poor nations is unconscionable - something FUTURECASTS repeatedly emphasizes - but the U.S. market is perhaps the most open of any major nation. Moreover, the poor nations typically wall themselves off from world trade and bar their peoples from benefiting from globalization. It is no accident that practically all the nations that have failed to develop have refused to open themselves to globalization.
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Even god cannot help peoples who will not help themselves. Neither can the U.S.

Multilateralism can be a prescription for paralysis and ineffectiveness, but unilateralism can create opposition that greatly increases the costs of action.

The dispute between advocates of multilateralism and unilateralismis covered at some length by Nye. Multilateralism can be a prescription for paralysis and ineffectiveness, but unilateralism can create opposition that greatly increases the costs of action. In addition, there is always a major price to pay in terms of loss of soft power influence whenever allies are ignored or disdained.

Europe is currently taking the lead in trying the multilateral soft power approach with respect to Iranian nuclear weapons programs. This is entirely appropriate, since Europe has significant trade ties with Iran and considerably more applicable soft power influence than the U.S.
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So far, the results have been less than reassuring - but hopefully success will be achieved in the end. Failure in this important matter would constitute a significant setback for multilateralism and reliance on soft power.
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The performance of the U.N. in Darfur and the NATO allies - other than the U.S. and British - in Afghanistan and Kosovo, unfortunately leaves much to be desired. It is indeed hard to sell reliance on multilateralism when the pertinent agencies are so pitifully ineffective.

Nye notes that public opinion in the U.S. as well as in foreign nations support international organizations. Ignoring international agencies, disdaining allies, adopting a tone of arrogance in international dealings - all serve to create resentments and opposition that can be very costly.

"In short, though it is true that America's size creates a necessity to lead and makes it a target for resentment as well as admiration, both the substance and style of our foreign policy can make a difference to our image of legitimacy, and thus to our soft power."

Nye concludes:

"The image of the United States and its attractiveness to others is a composite of many different ideas and attitudes. It depends in part on culture, in part on domestic policies and values, and in part on the substance, tactics and style of our foreign policies. - - - All three are important, but policy substance and style are both the most volatile and the most susceptible to government control. In any event, we have seen that soft power is not static. Resources change with the changing context."