Issue: Soft Power

What this is Soft power is the influence a country enjoys via the spread and adoption of its culture, outlook, and ways of doing things. It is distinct from direct political and economic power, sometimes called “hard power,” though it may still involve business or diplomacy. It can be spread by media, business, travel, and migration. It is also sometimes refracted through other countries; South Korea, for instance, has sometimes taken American cultural elements, Asianized them, and exported them around the region. See these notes for more information on the individual countries. What it means Soft power is a measure of influence that operates alongside military and economic power. It enables countries to shape the world to be more like them, deliberately or accidently. How it is changing The traditional cultural powers – the United States and Europe – are losing influence, though they still retain a preponderance of soft power. Japan and Russia have less cultural power than they did in the 1980s, though Russia is slowly rebuilding some aspects of it. Emerging markets are gaining soft power, but even China has barely begun to be seen as a model. Chinese companies are not yet purveyors of cultural power, even as they gain global reach. The map The map is color-coded by level of soft power: · dark blue: cultural superpower · light blue: global power · green: minor global power · yellow: regional cultural power

· Click on the map to zoom in or out. · Run the cursor over a country to see a description of its soft power characteristics.

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