In its misuse of military force, the United States has opened the way for its competitors to win deeper influence, writes Azmi Ashour* When Joseph Nye, former US assistant secretary of defence and former dean of Harvard University's John Kennedy School of Government, coined the terms "soft power" and "hard power" his point was that countries shouldn't rely on military means alone. He believes that the US should develop non-military means of persuasion to influence the priorities and therefore behaviour of others. To influence the priorities of others a country must have an attractive culture, model institutions and an inspirational ideology. Had the US used soft power, its cost of leadership would have been much less than it is today, Nye notes. Soft power is not synonymous with persuasion. Instead, it is a process of attraction, of getting people to your side, of enticing them to emulate your conduct. Nye believes that hard power and soft power must be used in tandem to influence the conduct of others. One can alter the behaviour of others through coercion as well as attraction. But a country slipping in its economic and military power may find it hard to act as a model and inspiration. What Nye develops makes one see power and its history in a new light. Power is an old political concept and our understanding of it has changed over time. In the past, power was mostly perceived in its crude forms, and yet great civilisations often exercised a great deal of soft power. The Greeks, Romans and Muslims all did. Even in modern times, soft power was constantly in use. Take, for example, the French revolution. Though it spawned an empire that had all the means of hard power, its base was science, culture and knowledge. The influence of the French thus exceeded the scope of their military prowess. The French occupied Egypt for only three years (1799-1801), but their influence stayed on long after the soldiers had gone. Mohamed Ali, the man who took control of Egypt four years after the departure of the French, continued to employ the French and send Egyptians to study in France. Having weapons and the technology is not enough. You also need knowledge, culture and scientists. During the Cold War, the two superpowers built great armies, but they knew that their main quest was for the hearts and minds of nations. The conflict between US-style liberal capitalism on the one hand and Soviet-style communism went far beyond military power. And when the Soviet Union finally collapsed its ideology waned as well. Communism had lost its appeal, even in Russia. For most of the 20th century, Egypt was a leader to the region mainly because it was a pioneer in art, the media and literature. Egypt's culture was the main reason others listened to it and emulated its ways. Nye draws a comparison between US policy during the Cold War and US policy since then. During the Cold War, the US used soft power to lead and inspire, and that was one of the reasons it emerged victorious from that war. But since then it opted for hard power, and that was when its problems began. The "war on terror" is an example of conflicts that calls for intensive use of soft power. The enemy is hard to define and it derives its power from ideology, faith and the misuse of US hard power. But since 9/11, US leaders failed to employ soft power in their foreign policy, giving other international powers, especially China, the chance to emerge as possible rivals. Until recently, the Chinese exercised soft power only on a limited scale. It was only in 1997 that China started to emerge as a true leader, especially when it refused to devalue its currency during the Asian financial crisis. Since then, the Chinese made sure to present their policy to the world as a win-win situation. China listens to what Southeast Asian countries have to say. It signed a "friendship agreement" with other Asian countries and its policy in the South China Sea is known for its flexibility. China has managed to forge close ties with countries having troubled relations with the US, including the Philippines and Cambodia. Chinese officials visit East Asian countries twice as frequently as US officials do. The Chinese succeeded in increasing knowledge of their language in the region through their radio broadcasts. And they offer scholarships to students from all over the region. Moving beyond the stage of free trade agreements, China is now negotiating economic partnership with South East Asian countries. Its trade with the region is higher than that of Japan and the US. One should not be surprised if the day comes when Chinese is the world's most commonly spoken language. * The writer is a political analyst at the quarterly journal Al-Demoqrateya published by Al-Ahram.
