2007.08.04: August 4, 2007: Headlines: COS - China: Public Diplomacy: Newsday: China has been using a new approach to public diplomacy to expand its influence and global appeal. It's an approach at which the United States once excelled but now does badly
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2007.08.04: August 4, 2007: Headlines: COS - China: Public Diplomacy: Newsday: China has been using a new approach to public diplomacy to expand its influence and global appeal. It's an approach at which the United States once excelled but now does badly
China has been using a new approach to public diplomacy to expand its influence and global appeal. It's an approach at which the United States once excelled but now does badly
The Chinese have expanded people-to-people diplomacy, set up their own Peace Corps, and trained diplomats to speak local languages and appear on local TV shows. China took advantage of the decline of America's soft power even before the Iraq war. That decline began in Asia when U.S. officials were perceived as indifferent to the suffering caused by the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. Our soft power eroded further when we eviscerated the United States Information Service and its cultural centers during the 1990s. Then came Iraq. President George W. Bush touts the need for public diplomacy. But his appointment of Karen Hughes as public diplomacy czar has been a failure, as evidenced by poll after depressing poll. What's so disturbing about "Charm Offensive" is the larger problem it illuminates. America is no longer taking advantage of its greatest strength: leading the community of democracies by example. Our diplomacy, as Kurlantzick notes, is preoccupied with Iraq and the "war against terrorism" to the exclusion of other countries' concerns.
China has been using a new approach to public diplomacy to expand its influence and global appeal. It's an approach at which the United States once excelled but now does badly
China killing the world with kindness, U.S. isn't
BY TRUDY RUBIN | Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial board member of The Philadelphia Inquirer, where this first appeared. James Klurfeld is off.
August 3, 2007
While the White House has been focusing its foreign policy attention on Iraq, the rest of the world hasn't been standing still.
China has been using a new approach to expand its influence and global appeal. It's an approach at which the United States once excelled but now does badly.
Call it "soft power." This term was coined over a decade ago by Harvard professor Joseph Nye to describe a country's ability to lead by example and get others to follow because they admire what you are.
A fascinating new book called "Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power Is Transforming the World" takes a look at Beijing's increasing skill at using diplomacy, trade incentives, cultural and educational exchanges, and other techniques to build an image of a benign global leader.
The book's author, Asia specialist Joshua Kurlantzick, says Beijing is wooing Asians, Latin Americans and Africans with a subtle approach aimed at countering the fears of China's rising military and economic strength.
In the 1990s, many Asians were unnerved by fears of Chinese military adventurism. Chinese leaders understood this image was harmful. So the Chinese have expanded people-to-people diplomacy, set up their own Peace Corps, and trained diplomats to speak local languages and appear on local TV shows.
Tens of thousands of foreign students attend Chinese universities. Chinese language and cultural studies are soaring in popularity throughout Asia and in the developing world.
China is pouring aid into Third World countries, including many whose relations with the United States have faltered, but which could prove useful for resources, like Venezuela, Sudan and Iran. It asks no questions about human-rights violations. It uses trade and aid to develop friendships even with poor, marginal countries like East Timor (which does happen to sit astride an important sea lane).
China took advantage of the decline of America's soft power even before the Iraq war. That decline began in Asia when U.S. officials were perceived as indifferent to the suffering caused by the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.
Our soft power eroded further when we eviscerated the United States Information Service and its cultural centers during the 1990s. Then came Iraq.
President George W. Bush touts the need for public diplomacy. But his appointment of Karen Hughes as public diplomacy czar has been a failure, as evidenced by poll after depressing poll.
What's so disturbing about "Charm Offensive" is the larger problem it illuminates. America is no longer taking advantage of its greatest strength: leading the community of democracies by example.
Our diplomacy, as Kurlantzick notes, is preoccupied with Iraq and the "war against terrorism" to the exclusion of other countries' concerns.
While China attends every regional organization meeting in Asia and promotes multinational organizations, our top officials skip many such meetings.
When it comes to exercising soft power, America should take a page from China's book. Train more diplomats to speak local languages, and, Kurlantzick says, let them do more tours in the countries whose languages they speak.
Reopen U.S. cultural centers abroad. Retake our former leadership in multinational organizations, and take the lead in environmental causes like global warming.
Many Asians are poorly informed about China's unregulated exports and environmental disasters. Were America to take the lead on global warming, Asians might hold China to environmental standards, too.
You get the picture. Soft power matters because countries that like you will want to be your allies; those that don't are open to the appeal of your up-and-coming rivals - such as China.
"If soft power is not exercised, it goes away or somewhere else, doesn't it?" asks Foreign Policy Research Institute president Harvey Sicherman.
The answer, as Kurlantzick's book makes clear, is a definitive "yes."
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Story Source: Newsday
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - China; Public Diplomacy
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