The topic of this week's discussion is, "The China Brand: Assessing China's Soft Power." Soft power is a term coined by Political Scientist Joseph Nye, who describes it as follows:"The basic concept of power is the ability to influence others to get them to do what you want. There are three major ways to do that: one is to threaten them with sticks; the second is to pay them with carrots; the third [soft power] is to attract them or co-opt them, so that they want what you want. If you can get others to be attracted, to want what you want, it costs you much less in carrots and sticks" Source
When: Tuesday, December 23rd at 7:30pm
Where: Seating area, City Shop Panyu Lu (click for directions). The expectation is that everyone purchases a small drink or snack.
We expect a somewhat smaller group this week, as the Christmas holiday is soon upon us. As a bonus to those who do attend, we will provide a free selection of Christmas cookies.
Readings (They are listed in order of importance. Please read as far as you can.)
- "China's Soft Power Initiative," The Council on Foreign Relations
- "The Rise of China's Soft Power," The Wall Street Journal
- "Can China's Soft Power Offensive Succeed?" Asia Media
Optional
- NOTE: This is a PDF Download. "China as an Emerging Soft Power: Winning Hearts and Minds through Communicating with Foreign Publics," Xiaoling Zhang.
Definition of soft power: Cultural, educational, and diplomatic influence. "The ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments."
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that China's soft power is on the rise. In America though, I think it still has a long way to go. For instance, we view Japan as synonymous with anime, consumer electronics, cars, sushi, and technical excellence. Most American's closest interaction with China is still Americanized Chinese food and perhaps a few Kong Fu movies.
I think the primary problem with "the China brand" is that it doesn't stand for anything yet. America has been successful in part because it projects an image of freedom, confidence, and riches. Aside from the "Confucious says" fortune cookie messages, Americans generally do not see Chinese as spreading any positive values around the world.