I understand that soft power is the ability to influence the actions of another global actor, mainly through diplomacy, politics, history or culture.
However an example of this would be? Isn't too clear for me, as opposed to hard power.
Oh wow, I thought I replied to this already.
Well here I go again:
An example? Cute, cuddly, claw-your-face-off pandas!
China's use of pandas to establish diplomatic relations with other countries is mostly symbolic , but there are some revenue raising benefits (pandas are very rare animals, so their exhibition in zoos attracts tourists and locals alike). States play nice with China in the hope that China will reward their actions with such diplomatic action. Why? Because China is understood to be a powerful state actor, being on their good side has many benefits. Why is this soft power? Because the states
want to do what China wants to do, as opposed to not wanting to do what China wants to do but doing it anyway to avoid unwanted consequences/to acquire explicitly stated tradeoffs, which is hard power.
That last point, about acquiring some trade-off - it probably sounds a lot like soft power. The distinction between coercive hard power and all forms of soft power is a difficult one to make. The best way to look at it is that coercive hard power or economic hard power will usually play into the short term goals of an actor. Something like chequebook diplomacy, on the other hand, plays into the longer term goals of a state. (Provision of aid to a state might not have any immediate benefits, but in the long run, it will make that state more inclined to play into the national interest of the providing state into the future) So, hopefully, the distinction between the use of economic hard power and economic soft power can be made. Don't know how clear that is haha soft power is a bitch to compact into a small but efficient explanation.
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