INDIA -(Shashi Tharoor) Why nations should pursue "soft" power

jakojako777

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While the comics themselves are not representative of any core national idea,it to an extent illustrates how the perception of self,reflects the perception of perception of the self.Manga characters should ideally be black haired/dark eyed and typically Japanese looking,but the Manga creators chose otherwise,why ?...would they and their millions of patrons preferred Japanese looked Caucasian,or is looking Caucasian a metaphor for something that the manga creators perceive as more 'positive'(or soft)

So is 'Soft power' not a projection of our national self,but merely an act reinforcing perceptions held by 'others'(west primarily)which they consider as positive or desirable,hence we also consider 'positive and 'desirable'.Is all this brouhaha about Taj Mahal,bollywood,shared values, reflecting the same.

would they and their millions of patrons preferred Japanese looked Caucasian,or is looking Caucasian a metaphor for something that the manga creators perceive as more 'positive'


You don't have to go far away to see India's example of the same phenomena - (IDF thread with photos of Indian beauties !)
Some of them look so "western" that I would NEVER have guessed that they are from India!

Even style of those photos are so "western" mimicking famous western fashion magazines...Isn't that your "Caucasian metaphor" similar in nature to "Japanese Manga syndrome"?!

Aren't you sometime put Western Caucasians on pedestal that was produced often by fascination with that power and richness that they used to represent?

I agree that every nation ,culture should not see herself inferior to others in any way...But than we are all humans and those examples can be found on the West also......

Perhaps those infatuations by financial success and fascination that we project on others about themselves is mere proof and mirror of our own weakness....

But than, we all know that strength without its proper weakens doesn't exist.

Those who can find exit out of that magic never ending circle have universal solution for leaving circle of reincarnation and entering eternity.

I really hope that India will not repeat mistakes of predecessors like UK & USA
and will find way to dig deep in its own self to find full dignity and self enlightenment to fulfill her own destiny in peace and harmony with all others that surround you on this planet.........and not to exploit them.

So that one day whole world can say ;

"Look at the India and light , peace and prosperity that offers to whole world !"
"They are joy of whole planet be cause they bring road to prosperity for everybody and they are light and example that keep us all in right direction !"


That kind of "Super Power" this world needs!
And that kind of "soft" power
would definitly win all hearts and minds on this planet !
:india:

...................................
 

roma

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INdia's soft power is basicalliy "south-south"

Without

1. A clear cut well defined realistic and executable Foreign Policy - (To have a realistic picture of our current position and what all is required for our future dominance)

2. Actual ability to steer the nation in the right direction - (To obtain a strong economic, social development)

3. Not being afraid to use all means at our disposal to carry out what we think is right - (To never deter from what we stand for)

will not help us achieve our aim of being a country which will shape the world's future.

In short India's Soft power needs to be backed up with "Hard" power if she wants to be a global leader.

In Shashi's talk he did keep the context basically along the line of south-south dialog. the examples he mentioned were of senegalese affection , arab countries, afghanistan and central asian affinity for indian movies songs etc.
And i think that is the contecxt and indeed the extent of indias boundaries for soft power export. ..with some exceptions being fringe areas such as a few east euro countries , having been occupied by the ottomans or having arab or "middle eastern" neighbours have some liking for things india eg films songs.

FORGET about soft power including china and the scandinavians germans or usa etc.

but if we stick to the first group the india has already great influence and this can be utilised to export other related products i.e BRAND INDIA.

in that sense india does not really need items 1,2,3, nor any hard power because we've already "arrived" as far as the south countries are concerned.

it's time to export to them.
 

Singh

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@ roma
Which talk are you talking about ? the ted one or some other one ?
--

Lets take for example South Asia.
1. Indian culture via TV shows, movies, music, food etc. pervades all of South Asia yet we are not the most loved country in the neighborhood
2. Nor are we the absolutely dominant inspite of being the most powerful country in the region.

What do you blame the above 2 for ?
1. No clear FP for eg. SL, Pak, Af. - Lack of a clear cut FP.
2. In ability to be the magnanimous neighbour who promotes trade ties and ensures stability and peace. - Lack of Vision and Ability
3. Inability to punish Pak, send troops to Af, divert river waters to the parched North etc. - Lack of power projection.

----

Indian diaspora, citizens, companies, govt, media, students etc. have done an excellent job in selling Brand India to the world. We wish to be a "soft" superpower because it will help us in our goal of being a developed superpower.

But to be a developed superpower is it necessary to be a soft superpower ?
 

jakojako777

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The rising 'Soft Power' of China and India

I know this is OLD article but that is even more reason to talk
on the subject now when India and China are even stronger than 5 years ago.


Business World: May 30, 2005




When Lana Makhanik, a yuppie Russian immigrant to the US, saw the film Monsoon Wedding, she was ecstatic. "The colour, the vibrancy, the joy and fun of it all... makes me want to be an Indian," she gushed.

Time was when the Indians and the Chinese were scoffed at for trying to ape the Americans. But suddenly, global audiences are relishing the burst of creativity that is coming out of China and India. This burst is turning the two nations, which were once exclusive importers of pop culture, into exporters. DVD versions of Hindi movies like Mani Ratnam's Dil Se and Chinese movies like Zhang Yimou's Hero are dazzling global audiences. Many teenage girls have taken to wearing the bindi, while boys are tattooing themselves with Chinese characters they cannot read. Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has become the highest grossing non-English film of all time, making about $170 million at the box office.

Chinese and Indian artists are also winning acclaim in more rarefied fields. In 2000, Paris-based Chinese novelist Gao Xingjian bagged China's first Nobel Prize in literature. A year later, the award went to a member of the Indian diaspora, V.S. Naipaul.

As culture czars and consumers celebrate the dramatic re-entry of India and China into popular imagination, they are also unwittingly driving another dynamic. Joseph Nye, professor of international studies at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, calls it "soft power".

In his book, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics, Nye describes soft power as the influence and attractiveness a nation acquires when others are drawn to its culture and ideas. It is basically a nation's "ability to achieve desired outcomes in international affairs through attraction rather than coercion", he says.

What is soft power?

It was Joseph S. Nye, Jr., former dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, who coined the phrase a decade and a half back. What started as an idea in his 1990 book, Bound To Lead, culminated in the publication of Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics in 2004. Soft power, according to Nye, is the ability to attract and persuade rather than coerce. It stems from the attractiveness of a nation's culture, ideals and policies. In contrast, hard power grows out of a nation's military or economic might. The former chairman of the US National Intelligence Council has been severely critical of the US's "appalling underinvestment" in public diplomacy in recent times.


Until recently, soft power was largely a US monopoly. Washington wielded its soft power as astutely, and some say even more effectively, as its hard or - military and financial - might. Believers in Nye's theory say the Cold War was won as much by Voice of America, Motown and Hollywood as it was by Ronald Reagan's 'Star Wars' programme.

"When I was a foreign correspondent in Moscow in the 1990s, I met many Russians whose first - and enduring - impression of America had been formed by hearing Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong," Fred Kaplan, formerly of The Boston Globe, recently wrote in Slate magazine. The music "conveyed a potent, appealing image of American freedom and (somewhat misleading) racial equality" that the Soviets just couldn't compete with.

As emblems of the US, Armstrong and brands like Disney, Levi's, Coca-Cola and McDonald's presented the Soviets, and indeed the world, with a nation that was easy to love. Recognising this, the US government was not content to let the American way of life diffuse naturally. It, therefore, ran its own soft power initiatives through the euphemistically-titled Department of Public Diplomacy. Using tools such as the United States Information Service, Voice of America and Radio Free Asia broadcasts to market the US's universal ideals of free people and free markets, it made people all over the world want to be like Americans, even if their leaders told them differently.

Now, as India and China are acquiring their own soft power, they are turning the tables. Last month, even as the US National Security Council, the country's apex intelligence body, was warning its citizens that the growth and power aspirations of the two Asian countries posed serious threats, people in Washington D.C. were queuing up to attend a film festival titled 'From Beijing to Bollywood'.

"What's interesting is that China and India are now shaping their own image," said Steve Noerper, associate professor of Asian Studies at American University in Washington D.C.

For decades, it was the US government's political view of nations that defined how its citizens perceived them. During the Cold War, any mention of India or China conjured up images of underclothed, underfed and overpopulated nations preaching socialist dogma and political revolution. To a post-war consumerist western world, it seemed disconnected. During the heady days of the 1960s, when it was hip to be anti-establishment, both India and China enjoyed a brief ascent in cultural imagination. But within a few years, Nehru jackets and the Little Red Book (of Mao's sayings) were passé.

Apart from the flower power movement's own implosion in the 1970s, the reason for cultural regression in India and China was that their socialist utopias, aimed at offering the world an alternative to US capitalism, failed. The ensuing political turmoil and economic stagnation - the Maoist years in China and pre-reform years in India - led to a creative drought. Censorship and lingering colonial cultural impositions, too, stifled creativity at home. But as both India and China have opened up their markets and minds, a new generation of artists are taking their work to new levels of sophistication.

"Today's [Asian] artists have a world view," says Ha Jin, the China-born award-winning author of Waiting, which Hollywood producer Andre Morgan of Enter the Dragon and Million Dollar Baby fame is turning into a film. "For instance, the idea of identity was alien to the Chinese language - there was even no word for it. But now, Chinese artists are exploring identity in ways that are so universal."

"Our own voices are now coming through to the world," says Chinese director Gu Changwei, whose film Peacock, a moving tale about life during the Cultural Revolution, won the Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival this year. "For too long, we could not fully express things we felt. Now we want to show the world what China really is... What makes me happy is that people want to hear, understand and connect with us."

Cultural catharsis of this nature is also influencing aspects of the US's own culture, says Eileen Chow, associate professor of East Asian studies at Harvard University.

In the field of music too, Chinese and Indian pop stars such as Nitin Sawhney are inspiring western bands to interlace guitar riffs with Asian melodies and instruments. The effusive dance numbers of choreographer Farah Khan and composer A.R. Rahman, created for Bombay Dreams, are seducing Broadway and Hollywood. Morgan has hired Khan to choreograph his latest US-China production, Perhaps Love, a musical set in Shanghai.

While Hollywood has inspired many Asian movies, directors such as Martin Scorsese are now remaking films like Andrew Lau's Internal Affairs and Rajkumar Hirani's Munnabhai MBBS. Books like Suketu Mehta's Maximum City and Gish Jen's Typical American are taught at universities across the world.

Lu Ann Walthers, senior editor at Pantheon Books that publishes Chinese and Indian authors, says globalisation and falling ethnic prejudice are exposing western audiences to the world. And many are intrigued by what they see.

"In the past, one could read excellent American books and never get any picture of the outside world," says Walthers. "[Now] the outside world is thrust into America's consciousness. Americans are puzzled by its complexities and are reaching for works that help explain them."

Meera Nair, the India-born author whose book, Video, was published by Pantheon, says the work was intended to be "an exploration of what happens when the West intrudes into the East. But what I have come to realise is that when Americans read a book written by an Indian about how Indians see America, it changes their view of both cultures. So a book about the intrusion of American culture into India itself becomes an intrusion of Indian culture into America".

Slick and successful Chinese films like Kung Fu Hustle and Hero and awardwinning littérateurs like Gao Xinjian have left lasting impressions on western minds. The US capital recently hosted a film festival titled ‘From Beijing to Bollywood’.

Artistically, this is heady stuff. Even before globalisation, art and culture had always sought to achieve a universalism of expression. So one would expect nations to cheer this cultural mingling. But the surge in Asia's soft power has powerful commercial and geopolitical undercurrents.

Artists in the two countries also want world-class budgets and returns, which the local market just cannot offer. Last year, Ke Ke Xi Li, a film about life and death in Tibet directed by Lu Chuan, won the Golden Horse award at the Taiwan Film Festival and created box office history in China. It grossed over 5 million renminbis ($606,000). But that is only half the 10 million renminbis ($1.2 million) the film cost. It was the 6.4 million renminbis ($780,000) the film made internationally that allowed it to return a profit.

Western distributors are also finding that Asian films serve to excite viewers. "The American public is really interested in experiencing Asia," Michael Barker, co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics, said recently. "Distributors need to understand the Asian communities better and market them."

The West is lapping up films like Bend It Like Beckham and Bride & Prejudice, and musicians like Nitin Sawhney.

The push by Chinese and Indian producers to get into international markets also promises to revitalise distribution and production set-ups. Many are already rolling out the red carpet for them. "We can both be of great help to each other," said Mark Warner, governor of Virginia, while announcing an incentive to attract Indian productions to his state.

Working with foreign studios and distributors also brings professionalism to Asia's otherwise famously erratic filmmakers, who are often forced to depend on the local mafia and wealthy dilettantes for funds. With the number of corporate film studios like Zee TV and UTV growing in both China and India, it is also conceivable that foreign studios will set up local operations in the two countries. Barker says that would be a logical progression, with considerable opportunities for local film industries. Already, foreign television and film producers such as News Corp., Viacom, Warner Bros and Sony Pictures have signed joint ventures with China Central TV and the state-owned China Film Group, the country's biggest film producer.

But the most significant ripple effect of Asia's soft power is how it's altering the 'country of origin' problem. When Titan Watches first entered the international market, it branded its product as 'the world watch', partly to disguise its origins. The company knew that many customers just wouldn't accept a high-end watch made in India. Today, the made in China or India mark is not barring brands from creeping up the value chain (See 'Enter The Chinese Brands', BW, 7 June 2004).

Significantly for both, the political advantages of taking their culture global are as alluring as the economic ones. "When a country gets very popular with the American public, it gets somewhat harder for Washington to follow a hard line against them," says Nye. "We live in an information world and information depends on its credibility... Countries that are more credible are more likely to be believed."

That is encouraging for both China and India, who want US support in their standoffs with Taiwan and Pakistan, respectively, to pursue their own public diplomacy. The two are spending millions of dollars on overseas public relations. Analysts say Chinese and Indian consular officials have been instructed to work hard at promoting cultural exports, and on image campaigns.

India's use of soft power as a foreign policy tool was visible in Afghanistan after the Taliban fell. The then foreign minister, Jaswant Singh, was one of the first dignitaries to fly into Kabul. But unlike other visitors, Singh, who was eager for India to replace Pakistan as the neighbour of influence, packed his plane not with supplies of food or medicines, but with tapes of Hindi movies and music that were quickly distributed.

China, on the other hand, has been less savvy than India. Much of the soft power that could accrue to China is diluted because the government squelches acclaimed works it sees as subversive. Chen Kaige's film Yellow Earth is an example.

"No other country in the world today spends as much money and manpower as China does just to create an image," says Li Kun, associate professor and chair of the department of communications, School of Journalism and Communication, Peking University. Beijing's greatest PR project is clearly the 2008 Olympics - a chance to show what China can do.

To many people, Coke, Britney, McDonald’s and Mickey Mouse are icons that represent Brand America.

Projecting this can-do image is critical for China and India to retain credibility with global investors who have pumped almost $1 trillion into the two countries. The truth is, "most CEOs follow the buzz", says an investment banker in Hong Kong. "China and India need about $1 trillion in investments over the next decade and people aren't going to want to put their money into problem places."

On the flip side, human rights groups and others complain that official and corporate interest in managing the media is hampering them from performing their watchdog role effectively. While the media in China is overtly suppressed, in India too, bearers of bad news are often seen as downers raining on Corporate India's carefully choreographed parade.

"We are sick of stories about caste and corruption and all that," says Sailesh Vadra, a cloth trader in New Delhi. "Our media should not bring us down... it should motivate us."

Critics of public diplomacy also complain that the two governments are eroding the fine line that separates propaganda and soft power. This is nothing new - Hitler used the Olympics to showcase a new Germany in 1936 and the Allies made imaginative propaganda films like Casablanca during wartime. But artists and writers such as Ha Jin say the process of using art for politics is "a kind of violation".

A bigger question hanging over the West's romance with Asian cultures is its sustainability. The novelty factor is still a major driving force behind western interest. But it is unclear if Chinese and Indian artists will be able to enter the general consciousness in a meaningful way. Significantly, if Asian artists try too hard to connect with foreign audiences they might find themselves losing home audience.

"Over the last 10 years, many Chinese movies are winning at international festivals but aren't doing well in China. It makes people ask if they are real reflections of Chinese life, or if they were made to appeal to western tastes," says professor Li.

Even if our cultures achieve universalism of expression, that's not all that will count. Ultimately, success will depend on how a cultural product feels, looks, sounds and performs.

"China's soft power comes a lot from its economic success - the impact development has had on our peoples' lives," says professor Li. "But in terms of overall image in the world, I'm not sure China's image is that positive. All the work the government does is destroyed every time they do something stupid. For example, one large protest by a Tibetan group could overshadow the Olympics."

In India, too, it takes just a landing at one of our decrepit airports for people to seriously reconsider any glossy image they may have had of the country. More significantly, the disregard the government and the social elite have for serious national issues becomes apparent even to those who know little.

Increasingly, this principle is true for the US as well. A recent Rand Corporation report on soft power says: "Misunderstanding of American values is not the principal source of anti-Americanism. Sometimes foreigners understand us just fine. They simply don't like what they see. Some US policies have been, are, and will continue to be major sources of anti-Americanism." (For more on this point, see 'Postcard From America' on page 31.)

Still, evidence suggests that this is only motivating China, India and the US to work harder at public diplomacy. Like consumer marketers competing for a slice of public mindshare, all three nations are vying to win hearts and minds. Superficially, this may not seem bad. The battle for minds may be insidious, but at least it is not gory.

Yet, as the US founding fathers warned, good judgement of citizens is essential for freedom. As public perceptions are increasingly manipulated, there is a risk of misjudging what is real and what is artificial - in the process, making citizens less aware of how life, politics and business are actually playing out on the global stage.
 

jakojako777

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Management of diversity is India's contribution to world: Tharoor

New article!

Management of diversity is India's contribution to world: Tharoor

New Delhi, Dec 19 : Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor today said the world can learn from India's management of diversity with underlying consensus that ''we agree to disagree''.

Mr Tharoor, while addressing a session themed 'Why the World Needs India and What Do They Expect from India?' said, ''India is not a melting pot, but a 'thaali' where extraordinary multiplicities co-exist,'' the Minister said.

Stating that India was at the center of four crucial global debates, ''bread versus freedom, centralisation versus federalism, pluralism versus fundamentalism and globalisation versus self-sufficiency,'' the Minister suggested that India's answers to these issues would be central to the world.

He said, ''India can contribute much to the world. Its young people are a productive dynamic workforce, provided right actions are taken, while the size of its market is a potential engine
for the global economy.'' In geopolitical terms, India is part of the shift in global power, being part of many different groups of nations, he said.

While admitting that India still has huge challenges to overcome, including, 'bijli', 'sadak', 'pani', 'kaam', and others, Mr Tharoor said, ''India has much to offer to the world in terms of soft power such as Bollywood, yoga, ayurveda and cuisine, but it needs to have confidence in itself. If we free our creative energies, we can be hugely influential in the world of the 21st century.'' Responding to questions related to youth power and leadership from the audience, Mr Tharoor mentioned that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had suggested that India must ''respect the impatience of the young'' and that 100 million new voters by the next general elections meant that a new political reality has to be addressed
 

ejazr

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Soft power is certainly about an image that includes not just ancient cultural and civilisational ties but existing economic and scoietal sucess stories. Here is a news story from an Arab perspective which shows how the image of India impacts people just by achieveing techonological milestones, uplifting its masses and promoting social equality. And this image in turn creates a favourable scneraio for furthering Indian itnerests in co-operation with other countires rather than coersion

India…Again - Asharq Al Awsat(Middle East) Newspaper
By Hussein Shobokshi

Once again, India has shown us the difference, in a practical manner, between a nation that works and an idle nation.

We have India launching its space shuttle – produced entirely by the hands, brains and technology of India – to the moon, joining the exclusive space club. The incredible India experience continues to captivate those who monitor its developments; it is the biggest of the world’s democracies reaping the fruits of its labor such as paying exceptional attention to education, training, and the bringing together of diverse segments of its society towards one outlook, motivated by the economy of knowledge that made India and its economic model a clear emblem of that.

All this took place whilst its Pakistani “neighbor” continues its foolish tribal and sectarian wrangling and the chain of assassinations and car bombs that claim innocent lives through indiscriminate savagery.

The developing world is watching in astonishment and wonder to the extent of envy and jealousy (where some arrogant people belittle India’s accomplishments expressed in a racist, despicable and reckless manner) as India transforms from a developing country of the Third World to join the major industrial countries, and this is well-deserved.

India today has transformed into a center of gravity and the backbone of the modern world of technology. One of India’s businessmen owns one of the biggest steel producing companies in the world and it is also home to one of the world’s most important companies, the Tata Group, which owns a number of major companies and hotels around the world. Today India has taken the lead role in cinematic production and its authors continue to receive the most prominent of awards.

The Arab world should carefully and seriously examine the Indian experience and how it largely benefited from its advantages because it presents important and eye-catching examples of what can be accomplished. The Indian model is similar to the Arab situation; there are the same challenges in development and the same social, political, cultural and economic challenges without doubt.

India still has some surprises in store; the anticipated Nano car produced by Tata is ready to be launched and presented to the world as the cheapest car in the world therefore giving scores of people from the world over the chance to own a car for a cheap price.

Universities, schools and technical institutes in India continue to improve their capabilities and programs to become more competitive and effective in transforming India into one of the most important elements of efficiency, success and excellence and its “price” in the labor market is higher than that of many of its counterparts of the old industrial world. There is no doubt that in Bangladesh, Pakistan, (and even Sri Lanka and Nepal) there are regrets that these countries are not on the same level as India and do not compare with its economic growth as the gap is widening between them and the motherland.

Yet again, the Indian option is about equality and education for all. They reaped a glory that the world envies.

The Indian example continues to amaze; it is a fascinating success story that deserves to be told…more importantly it deserves to be learnt from.
 

sandeepdg

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From what i know about 'Soft Power', its selling your culture, arts, traditions unique to your land, spirituality and to some extent religion etc. to the world and using it to spread awareness and enlightenment about your nation to the people of the world & in effect bringing about a change in their perceptions and winning their hearts and minds. But as most members have put it, "Soft Power" or cultural power if i may put it has to go hand-in-hand with "Hard Power" i.e. military and economic might, especially concerning the volatile times that we live in ..
 

sandeepdg

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I also admire Mr. Tharoor as a very suave and intelligent diplomat who can sell his ideas in a way no other diplomat can at present in our country and he is right when he says that countries should pursue Soft-Power just to bring a change in peoples perceptions about others and promote amity between various cultures, which eventually helps in more people becoming familiar and thereby respecting your nation.
 

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