Re: Good examples of soft power in history
Posted: 2014-04-21 11:52pm
I think it's inappropriate to call economic power 'hard' as opposed to 'soft' in all cases. In many situations, "soft power" successes stem from one country seeing another as glamorous or impressive- precisely because that other country is very rich. American movies sell because America is rich and can afford to make impressive movies, not because people in foreign countries somehow find stories rooted in our national narrative more compelling than their own.
_________________
Also, I think that we might want to define the very concept of "victory" differently for soft power than for hard. For example, it might be argued that soft power scores a victory if my country's culture and customs persist even when conquered by foreigners. Sure, my government may not care about that, but the legacy of my civilization depends heavily on whether outsiders continue to value it even after it is militarily defeated.
A soft-power outcome that results in my cultural legacy surviving and my people ultimately triumphing over a conqueror may count as a win even if, in concrete terms, I "lost" the war.
For instance, one might argue that classical Greece lost the hard-power conflict with Rome, but won the soft-power conflict.
Or that China 'won' soft-power conflict with the Mongols by sinicizing them and ultimately modifying the invaders into something that could be overthrown by the native Ming dynasty.
And that the Germanic tribes won the hard-power conflict against the Romans centuries later, but lost (or at best stalemated) the soft-power conflict. Although they definitely gained by 'losing' in this way, because it enriched their own culture and allowed their descendants to thrive and reach new cultural heights in the medieval era.
_________________
Also, I think that we might want to define the very concept of "victory" differently for soft power than for hard. For example, it might be argued that soft power scores a victory if my country's culture and customs persist even when conquered by foreigners. Sure, my government may not care about that, but the legacy of my civilization depends heavily on whether outsiders continue to value it even after it is militarily defeated.
A soft-power outcome that results in my cultural legacy surviving and my people ultimately triumphing over a conqueror may count as a win even if, in concrete terms, I "lost" the war.
For instance, one might argue that classical Greece lost the hard-power conflict with Rome, but won the soft-power conflict.
Or that China 'won' soft-power conflict with the Mongols by sinicizing them and ultimately modifying the invaders into something that could be overthrown by the native Ming dynasty.
And that the Germanic tribes won the hard-power conflict against the Romans centuries later, but lost (or at best stalemated) the soft-power conflict. Although they definitely gained by 'losing' in this way, because it enriched their own culture and allowed their descendants to thrive and reach new cultural heights in the medieval era.