It will do America no good to think in terms of soft power and hard power. It will do America a great deal of good to think in terms of propriety and world standing.
To understand what that means
in practical terms, we need to understand that as a species, humans are
undergoing yet another transformation in the way that we live and interact with
each other. We have gone through several of these during the last ten thousand
years or so, and we're doing it again this time.
From hunters-gatherers we
became an agrarian society. This has changed our lifestyle tremendously, as
well as the way we used to interact with each other. We then transformed from
agrarian to urban-industrial, and this caused us to change the way we live and
interact once again. Now, we are transforming into something that is yet to be
accurately defined, but one that foresees an important role for the digital ––
in the way that we communicate with each other and operate our industries.
And there is one more detail
that needs to be highlighted before going further with this discussion. It is
that the transformation from agrarian to industrial brought with it the age of
colonialism as well as the mass exploitation of human beings and their
resources by other human beings. Fortunately, however, hanging on to that
mentality has been rejected by most of today's humanity, except for a handful
that continues to glorify an anachronism that has been universally relegated to
oblivion.
While America has joined the
rest of humanity in repudiating that kind of behavior, the language that
America uses to carry on with normal communication, contains vestiges of that
anachronistic time. To wit, when speaking of soft power and hard power, which
are words commonly used in America, some people inadvertently demonstrate that
they have not wiped the old vestiges off the slate where the new is supposed to
go.
In fact, a recent article
discussing these matters came under the title: “American Soft Power Will
Survive Donald Trump,” written by Joseph S. Nye Jr., and published on January
9, 2021 in The National Interest. The article contains solid analysis and great
ideas regarding the current situation in America. But this is where the
shortcomings of the article become apparent. It is that the writer was so
concentrated on America, he neglected to describe the world with which America
is interacting. It is like clapping with one hand.
As it happens, this kind of
neglect is so common to Americans in all walks of life, it has contributed
mightily to the impairment of America's foreign policy during the last half
century. What happened was that after the Second World War, most countries came
to realize that the world had changed, and that people and nations were not
going to live or interact with each other the same as before. And so, they
began to experiment with, and develop new methods by which to interact and live
their daily lives.
The situation with America was
somewhat different in that the country took most of the credit for winning the
Great War, and rightly so. But ever since that time, the image of Europe as a
collection of inferior societies, and a world that is impoverished, have not
changed in the minds of Americans. These people continue to hold in their
heads, static snapshots of a world, including Europe –– which are nothing more
than false stereotypes of what is no longer there.
As Europe and the rest of the
world kept progressing, whereas America's view of them remained static, the
good relations that America used to have with others, began to deteriorate.
Knowing this, America must realize that it needs to get rid of the
stereotypical images it has carried in the head since World War Two.
More specifically, America's
politicians and diplomats must learn (if not relearn) how to interact with
people and nations beyond America's borders. These are not entities that exist
for the sole purpose of being influenced by America; they are creatures that
contribute as much as America to the development of the civilization that
humans must have to continue the journey we are destined to undertake.
This is why thoughtful people
like Joseph Nye should stop thinking in terms of soft power and hard power.
They must instead help develop a proper posture for America to take when
dealing with individuals and nations outside the country's borders. Ultimately,
those who write to advise America, must think in terms of what is proper
behavior, and what should be their country's standing in the eyes of the world.
Ultimately, America must come
to realize that the world of the twenty first century and beyond, no longer
resembles that of the mid-twentieth century.
In addition, unlike the
European nations that America has liberated, those like China and India, which
are rising today, will eventually dominate the future. They owe nothing to
America, but being treated like they exist to be influence by America, will
turn America into a laughingstock for the whole world to laugh at.
This is reality. It must be seen as it is, and must factor into the thinking of those who enjoy doing just that.