My new article just out @ForeignAffairs argues that the #US and #China are not directly competing for #SoftPower. Instead, what we are witnessing is #coexistence of their distinct approaches and practices. foreignaffairs.com/articles/china… 1/10
First, I contrast the more ideational or ideological #SoftPower conception and practice by the #US with the more #pragmatic approach of #China. The #US emphasizes liberal values, whereas #China stresses material welfare and mutual development as part of its vision. 2/10
The #US public diplomacy celebrates and promotes idealized vision of #American democracy. #China promotes its economic accomplishments and fuses practical benefits with cultural programming. This distinction is especially notable in the #GlobalSouth. 3/10
Drawing on my research on #ChinaEthiopia, I describe the varied manifestations of #China’s pragmatic soft power, from enticing students to join #CIs with jobs at #Chinese companies, to providing low-cost education and training options that include cultural tours. 4/10
Other than presenting distinct offerings, #ChinaUS #SoftPower coexistence is manifested in perceptions of the two as complementary by many of their audiences. Even in #GlobalSouth where #China’s pragmatism reaped more rewards, there is reluctance to choose between #ChinaUS. 5/10
In my research, for instance, I found elites from #Ethiopia embrace #China’s story of economic success and #US narrative of #democracy. Practical opportunities are sought after in both (though #China often offers more), and sometimes negotiated between the two. 6/10
Finally, I argue that #China and #US face their own distinct challenges in #SoftPower promotion. #US struggles with “disconnect between the country’s emphasis on democratic values and its inconsistent adherence to them” domestically and internationally. 7/10
#China “by relying on practical inducements…invites scrutiny over the quality of its offerings and risks a wholly transactional reciprocity on the ground.” This is already notable in reception towards #China’s #Covid #Diplomacy. 8/10
I conclude that the success of #China and #US “depends not so much on outmaneuvering each other as on overcoming their own internal frictions.” In the meantime, what much of the world is interested in is less so the “attractiveness contest,” but “what each one has to offer.’ 9/10
Big thank you to @Justin_Vogt for his thoughtful guidance and edits. I’m developing some of these ideas into a longer book manuscript, but this piece also draws on my #ChineseSoftPower book and recent article on #CIs in #Ethiopia in @chinaquarterly 10/10
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