Power and Popular Culture

Power is the ability to achieve one’s purposes or goals.[1] Through the scholarship of Joseph Nye, the concept of power occupies two distinct spheres: ‘hard’ and ‘soft’. The former purports to have a coercive function through economic might or military strength. The latter is loosely defined as attractive power, resting centrally upon state’s foreign policy, ideology and culture. In the post-Cold War international system, soft power has risen to increasing prominence. International politics, like all politics, is a struggle of power. Whatever the ultimate aims of international politics, power is always the immediate aim[2].

In the contemporary world of 21^st century, providing credibility and reliability as well as proposing friendly image of a state is becoming an issue, which seems to significantly important in the arena of international politics. The rise of soft power is more about how do you look like, than the way your are, as in world of democracy as well as in public diplomacy, it is essential what do people think. It is argued, popular culture is the best way to attract public attention. For instance, Japanese cultural export has engendered an attraction toward a benign image of the Japanese state. Japan’s role as the disseminator of video and computer games, fashion trends, anime, manga and cuisine has, Kelts states, transformed Japan into a “visual arbiter of cool.”[3] This representation stimulates a yearning for Japan rather than passively consuming fans were inspired to know not only more about the product, but also about its cultural origins. Similarly, ‘Hollywood and celebrity diplomacy’, leading role as a state of capitalism and ‘consumer good’ as a globally attractive module, had nominated U.S. to be country that named as being another ‘Soft Power Superpower’.

Nevertheless, unlike foreign policy and political values, popular culture cannot be directly ascribed to the state’s governmental organs. Hence, positive view attractions have their limitations, as attraction to image does readily translate to similar appeal to foreign policy. In a case of U.S., it is argued that it is losing its protection of its soft power, as the excesses of the war on terror—including abuse of prisoners in Guantánamo Bay and Abu Ghraib—have devalued the attractiveness of American values.[4] American international relations scholar Joseph Nye Jr., who coined the expression in the late 1980s, views "soft power" as the ability of a nation to achieve its objectives by attracting or seducing other nations to do its bidding or emulate its policies without resorting to coercion. Gains achieved by military force and economic sanctions are often short-lived and provoke a backlash. Nye maintains it is more effective to inspire nations to adopt desired policies and objectives. Nonetheless, it is argued that soft power is not merely a velvet glove enveloping an iron fist, although it works best in combination with hard power. Hence, that gives a roof for a further investigation of the ‘smart power’ -a combination of two powers, hard and soft, for the maximum result achieved.

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[1] Joseph Nye, ‚The Changing Nature of Wrld Power, (1990), Political Science Quarterly 105:177.

[2] Hans J. Morgenthau, ‘Politics Among Nations‘, 27.

[3] Roland Kelts, Japanamerica (New York: Palgrave, Macmillan, 2006), 149

[4] Joshua Kurlantzick, ‘The Decline of American Soft Power‘