Shashi Tharoor: Soft power can make us a global leader

[LurkerBaba]

Religion can no longer be used to rally the masses in the west. Let alone sects within the religion.

Who cares about the west ? People there are educated, many are turning into atheists/agnostics.

But the ignorant/poor idiots in India (and elsewhere) will get riled up. Take a cue from Kudankulam and Uranium mining in the North East

edit: Conflict between Ireland and Britain does have some religious overtones

 

[Nagraj]

reverse is true as well!

A country with just hard power and no soft power can never become a world leader.

 

[Nagraj]

Please do watch fox news.

Religion can no longer be used to rally the masses in the west. Let alone sects within the religion.

 

[roma]

if we restrict the definition of soft power as being india's culture , music , cuisine ( as suuggested in the lead article of this website ) - that sort of thing - then the influence is going to be very limited - basically to a handful of a few countries in the middle-east and central asia - countries which on a global scale dont amount to much

but if we talk about a larger view of "soft power" to include the indian people in the usa-canada region - namely the large number of high-quality professionals and academics, - then we do have something really worth-while going there !

indian soft power in that area would be in collaboration with the usa - ... they take our professionals and academics seriously , in return we co-operate with the usa in their quest t o remain global #1 and they reward us by taking our opinions, likes and dislikes into serious consideration as well.

in that sense india has one avenue of soft power that will make her a vital PARTNER (together with the USA ) in global leadership ... to try to go it alone , forget it , but in partnership with the usa - there's a realistic opportunity in that !

 

[KS]

Indian softpower at work...:shocked: :thumb:




India rocks: When the Kiwi captain says Bhench*d

 

[no smoking]

Since when are cartoons recognized as soft power ? :shocked:

Just as Hollywood, Japanese cartoons are recognized as soft power. As a chinese, a whole generation of our age was growing up in watching Japanese carton. As a result, the japanese products are the most popular in our shopping list in last 80s. Yes, Japanese cartoons did once sucessfully reduce the anti-japan senses among chinese and turns the chinese society to Japan for the path to modernization.

 

[The Messiah]

Indian softpower at work...:shocked: :thumb:




India rocks: When the Kiwi captain says Bhench*d

that is bhaiya soft power

 

[Tolaha]

Indian softpower at work...

India rocks: When the Kiwi captain says Bhench*d

wow... have no doubt then, India has truly arrived now!

And from that article:

The Banglaore boys are different. I reliably am told that "aunties and ajjis" have trained these "magoos" to be good and correct. They break only occasionally, when gunpowder is stuffed up their nostrils, as in the celebrated case of Venkatesh Prasad versus Aamir Sohail. But the lot from Bangalore are generally slow learners.

 

[Tolaha]

Just as Hollywood, Japanese cartoons are recognized as soft power. As a chinese, a whole generation of our age was growing up in watching Japanese carton. As a result, the japanese products are the most popular in our shopping list in last 80s. Yes, Japanese cartoons did once sucessfully reduce the anti-japan senses among chinese and turns the chinese society to Japan for the path to modernization.

Have to agree with 'no smoking' here. Japanese and Koreans have established tremendous soft power in many Asian countries. As you see adults (enjoying Korean soaps, music) and Japanese anime/cartoons [many adults here in DFI as well!] :scared: ) glued to their TV watching them religiously, they are in essence culturally connecting with those nations. These nations could very well (not intentionally) have transmitted their ideas and cultural values to their dedicated fan base all over the world!

 

[SADAKHUSH]

Bollywood movies, yoga, Indian cuisine, etc. may be popular abroad, but that does not equate to "soft power". Real soft power comes from being able to attract, co-opt, and "pull" others towards you and having your ideologies, paradigms, and models adopted internationally. Having soft power is a prerequisite for becoming a global leader of any sort. The U.S. has true soft power because it is able to attract millions of immigrants with its values and institutions, and promote itself globally as a champion of capitalist democracy and the "American way", which is attractive to many in the Third World. Similarly, the Soviet Union had soft power because numerous governments and revolutionary movements around the world derived inspiration from the Marxist-Leninist model and these governments/movements looked towards the Soviet Union as the global leader of socialism. Ancient India also had considerable soft power, due to the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia and the emergence of Indian Buddhist universities like Nalanda and Vikramashila as international centers of learning, with India being regarded as the spiritual and educational center of the world.

India in the present, however, has no soft power whatsoever, and will have to rely on hard power for the considerable future. This means focusing on internal development and expanding India's economic and military strength, rather than promoting an image of India which, quite frankly, is rather pathetic for the time being.

I hope some one can send the copies of your post to Sashi tharooor and entire cabinet of GOI along with our diplomats around the world. You have said lot in just few words.

 

[trackwhack]

Exactly how soft are we talking about here?

Tests the goddam thermonukes you idiots.

 

[Energon]

@Energon

Dont you think that all you listed - nintendo, walkman, six sigma come into the economic/industrial practises and not the culture part?

What LB and Civ gave were true examples of soft power - Iran, Saudi or Vatican or even Israel. They dont need economy, insustrial innovations, nothing to exercise it. But tomorrow if they give a call you will see lakhs rallying around their cause.

No, it's definitely cultural; besides revolutionizing industrial and business practices are also highly critical social and cultural values. Also the Sony Walkman is actually considered one of the greatest sociological game changers that emanated from Japan as did the concept of portable videogames.

Like I said earlier, my guess is that you weren't exposed to the world outside India in the 80s, either because of India's policies or because you were too young. But rest assured Japan's impact upon the globe in terms of soft power was spectacular, and Japan was everywhere; in fact up until the early 90s we were convinced that Japan would overtake us both economically and in cultural influence.

Japan is actually a really special case because they achieved their objectives entirely through soft power. The Japanese always wanted to dominate the world just like the West, but after WWII they had spurned the idea of territorial conquest. So instead they used their industriousness to forge a new identity and made themselves highly attractive in order to take over the world. Their only mistake was that they never let anyone in. Unlike the US they remained ethnocentric and xenophobic and that eventually factored into their stagnation.

I'm not sure if we're on the same page when it comes to defining soft power, because your condition of not using attributes like industrial innovation actually contradicts what Nye outlined or what Tharoor is referring to. Saudi and Iran's influence is powered by religious ideology, it's only limited to populations who ascribe to those ideologies. This is also why Saudi has to resort to using vast sums of cash in order to influence non Sunni nations, this by definition is not soft power. Saudi and Iran have absolutely no institutions or attributes that are attractive to the outside world. True soft power is something that cuts through continents and cultures and appeals to everyone, which is what the United States and Japan achieved. These two nations unlike Saudi, Iran or the Vatican have institutions and values that most people over the world admire and wish to align with.

Now mind you military itself can be used to exert soft power through means that exclude combat and instead focus on humanitarian and social activities; in fact this is a part of the US Navy's doctrine.

Nations can achieve a lot through soft power and they do not require vast military resources to achieve that. What you do need however is a show of competence, again something that others aspire to.