Karen_A._Mingst,_Ivan_M._Arregu_n-Toft]_Essentia

(Amelia) #1

150 CHAPTER FivE ■ The STaTe


through the power of its example. For the United States, its soft power resources may
include its model of functioning democracy and commitment to po liti cal and civil
rights. Since 2007, China has tried to increase its soft power resources— its reputation
as a defender of national sovereignty and its rec ord of achievement in economic growth,
as well as its traditional ancient cultures and its cuisine. But as one scholar found, despite
its estimated $10 billion per year in its overseas publicity work, China has “very little
influence on global cultural trends, minimal soft power, and a mixed- to- poor interna-
tional image in public opinion polls.”^9 Monocle Media ranks countries annually by a
soft power index. Based on 50 factors, including number of cultural missions, number
of Olympic medals, and quality of its architecture, Germany, Great Britain, the
United States, France, and Japan lead in their soft power resources.
Critics disagree, however, about the effectiveness of soft power. Realists might
argue that it is in effec tive compared to hard power. Yet when coupled with the tangi-
ble, intangible power sources either augment a state’s capacity or diminish its power.
Liberals, who have a more expansive notion of power, would more than likely place
greater importance on these intangible ingredients because several reflect domestic
po liti cal pro cesses. Yet diff er ent combinations of the sources of power may produce


Shanghai, China, has under gone a major transformation in the last 25 years as China’s
economy has developed rapidly from agricultural to industrial. With numerous sources
of natu ral and tangible power, China today is considered one of the foremost powers in
the world.

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