如何看待美国的软实力

约瑟夫·奈1990年提出"软实力"的概念是旨在回应盛行其时的"美国衰落论"。近年来,随着世界上反美情绪的日益高涨,又出现了"美国软实力衰落论"。实际上,美国软实力的各个组成部分,如美国在科技、教育、人口方面的竞争力,以及在思想、规范和制度安排方面的影响力,均未衰落。真正影响美国软实力的因素是美国民众的情绪和国内分歧。     

编后

本期专论刊发了两篇讨论美国实力变化的文章。孔祥永、梅仁毅的文章指出,近年来世界上出现了"美国软实力衰落论",但美国软实力的各个组成部分如在科技、教育、人口方面的竞争力,以及在思想、规范和制度安排方面的影响力,均未衰落;真正对美国软实力造成伤害的因素是美国民众的情绪和国内分歧。     

试析美国对中国在东南亚力量崛起的安全评估

美国认为中国谋求实现"主宰"东南亚地区经济秩序的战略目标,在于建立人民币在该地区的主导地位,弱化美元在东南亚的影响力;中国正在努力冲破美国布置的战略藩篱,精心构筑在东南亚的战略领地;东南亚国家普遍将中国看作是驱动地区经济发展的发动机,但在双方关系中仍存在一些"强烈关注问题"亟待解决;中国在东南亚的软实力提升很快,但不会对美国有实质性威胁,而且中国软实力的提升受到诸多因素的限制。     

软实力视阈下的日本动漫外交

近年来,日本在经济持续低迷与少子老龄化的背景下,努力寻求通过文化"软实力"来提高国家影响力的新途径。受美国学者约瑟夫·奈的启发,日本政府认识到"动漫"是日本的软实力资源之一,并实施了一系列动漫外交。日本政府的动漫外交促进了日本文化产业的发展,对构建国家形象和提升国家软实力发挥了重要作用。     

美国崛起过程中的对外策略——以近代美国在华活动为例

本文在史料的基础上,以近代美国在华活动为例,对美国崛起过程中的对外策略进行了探讨。文章认为,近代美国的扩张方式与英国不同。为了增进和维护其在华利益,美国尽力与英国等列强合作,避免冲突;千方百计地推进自由贸易原则,扩大市场;运用软实力树立良好形象,扩大影响。这种策略使美国实现了其在华的最大利益。     

以武力取代影响力:美国软实力的削弱

自布什政府上台以来,美国在国际事务中奉行单边主义政策.阿富汗战争后,美国穷兵黩武,不顾国际社会的和平努力,发动了伊拉克战争.其放纵单边主义和军事本能的做法招致了国际社会的强烈反对和不满,国家的影响力和吸引力受到重创.伊战中的情报失真事件和虐囚丑闻更使其恶化的国际形象雪上加霜,美国的软实力在不断受到削弱.     

慈善基金会缘何兴盛于美国

美国的慈善基金会数量之多、规模之大、影响之广,是任何其他国家的慈善基金会所不可比拟的。慈善基金会之所以兴盛于美国有其独特历史、宗教、文化和社会与时代背景。19世纪末、20世纪初美国经济的快速增长造就了一批百万富翁,他们积聚了巨额的财富,这为他们创办大型善慈基金会奠定了物质基础;美国文化与宗教中鼓励捐赠、谴责贪婪的传统成为这些百万富翁创办慈善基金会的内驱力;当时的政治形势,尤其是“进步主义”和“黑幕揭发”运动及国际工人运动的高涨,是促使富翁们出钱财创办慈善基金会的外驱力。多种因素的交互作用,催生了美国的现代慈善基金会。慈善基金会作为美国社会和政治生活中一个重要的行为体,对美国内政外交都有着重要的影响。     

华侨华人与中国在东南亚的软实力建设

冷战结束以后,中国通过文化、对外援助和参与区域合作机制等方式积极开展在东南亚地区的软实力建设,在取得成效的同时也面临着诸多挑战。华侨华人是存在于东南亚地区的特殊群体,尽管在历史上曾受到东南亚国家的排挤打压,但近年来华侨华人在东南亚各国政治、经济和文化中的影响力得到了迅速提升。因此,整合华侨华人的优势资源,引导和发挥他们的桥梁与纽带作用,将有助于中国在东南亚地区软实力的进一步提升。     

冷战时期美国对东南亚的文化外交

二战结束后,随着冷战的逐步展开,美国政府通过对文化外交行政主管机构的整合、国会的一系列立法,与苏联为首的社会主义阵营展开了"文化冷战".冷战时期,美国在东南亚开展的文化外交主要有三种表现形式,即以富布赖特项目为代表的教育交流外交、以图书馆建设和图书翻译及传播为特征的图书外交,以及文艺表演外交.美国在东南亚地区开展的文化外交活动促使该地区部分国家的国民(尤其是社会精英阶层)了解并接受了美国的思想文化和价值观念,培养了一批具有社会影响力的"亲美"人士,进而推动了美国在东南亚地区的文化渗透.另一方面,美国的文化外交在某些情况下也给东南亚国家的统治阶层带来了一些麻烦,同时也引起了企图延缓东南亚非殖民化、希望继续控制东南亚地区的英国、法国等老牌殖民地宗主国的反感.此外,美国文化外交的扩张主义本质,以及美国在该地区的政治、军事行动与其在文化外交项目中标榜的国家形象显著冲突,也使得美国文化外交影响力的发挥大打折扣.     

九一一事件后美国对印度尼西亚的公共外交

九一一恐怖袭击事件让公共外交在美国对外政策议程中的重要性被再次凸现出来。在推行对印尼的公共外交时,美国既重视短期目标与长期效果的统一,也注意到传统外交与公共外交之间的相互作用与影响。美国加强对印尼这个世界上最大的穆斯林国家的公共外交,首先是出于九一一事件之后国际反恐的需要,意在消解印尼民众的反美情绪,尽可能降低极端主义和激进穆斯林的影响,改善美国的形象;但随着亚太地区形势的变化,美国对印尼的公共外交又被注入更多的地缘政治因素。由于存在各种复杂因素,评判美国对印尼的公共外交时,既要重视其对短期内改善美国形象所发挥的作用,更要关注其长期效果,特别是对形成印尼精英层稳定的美国观所发挥的作用。同时,还应注意传统外交与公共外交的相互作用。     

中美学者关于中国在东南亚软实力理解的对比分析

"软实力"逐渐成为了中国一个时髦的话语,它甚至超越了学术的范畴。本文将对比并分析中美两国学者对中国在东南亚"软实力"的理解。     

美国霸权的终结--兼评伊拉克战争对未来国际政治的影响

美国谋求单极世界霸权的企图已是一个不争的事实.它现在不仅拥有了实现这一野心的硬实力,而且似乎也具备了相应的软实力.但如果据此认为美国真的能实现它的这一梦想那又未免过于主观.本文将重点探讨有哪些现实因素将阻碍美国实现其单极霸权,以及为什么说美国的这一野心注定会失败.     

Cold War brotherhood contested: KATUSAs,slicky boys,American G.I.s,and the Status of Forces Agreement in post-armistice South Korea, 1954–1966

ABSTRACT

As the largest contingent of Americans in postwar South Korea, the G.I. best represented the United States’ Cold War objectives. Their deployment was an emblem of hard power containment, but the G.I. also embodied soft power integration, and through both, G.I.s helped to promote Pax Americana. This article focuses on the militarized masculinity of these ambassadors of America and their people-to-people diplomacy in South Korea between 1954 and 1966. These American G.I.s constructed their militarized masculinity vis-à-vis the Korean male Other, their “lesser” counterparts – the hapless houseboy, the inferior partner soldier, and the menacing slicky boy. At the same time, this liberal imperialism did not go uncontested. Violent imaginaries of the American G.I. from the borderlands were used by Koreans to demand a new bilateral framework – the Status of Forces Agreement in 1966 – to replace the outmoded wartime extraterritorial jurisdiction wielded by the American military after cessation of hostilities on the Korean peninsula in 1953. The militarized masculinity practiced in everyday encounters, thus, became the basis of a critique of American liberal imperialism in one of the United States closest Cold War “brother” nations.     

Dragon’s underbelly: An analysis of China’s soft power

Using both quantitative and qualitative data, this paper extends Joseph Nye’s analytical framework on soft power to the China case, in order to provide a more balanced and updated analysis of the country’s power status. We argue that the rise of China is not simply an expansion of hard power; it has also been accompanied by tremendous efforts to develop soft power. Soft power helps Beijing redraw geopolitical alliances in ways that will propel its rise as a global power. This process is nevertheless complicated by the deficiency of its soft power resources and the uneven progress in projecting the soft power abroad. The paper concludes that despite Beijing’s growing ability to shape other people’s worldview or political agenda, soft power remains Beijing’s underbelly and China still has a long way to go to become a true global leader.     

INDIA’S SOFT POWER DIPLOMACY UNDER THE MODI ADMINISTRATION: BUDDHISM,DIASPORA AND YOGA

This paper examines the Narendra Modi administration's use of three specific soft power assets of India – Buddhism, Diaspora, and Yoga – in diplomacy in service of the country's national interests. It attempts to address the following questions: What is the main purpose of the Modi administration's soft power strategy and the reasons behind the promotion and utilization of these three assets? What are the impediments to India's soft power projection ability? Finally, how can the Modi administration better exploit India's soft power advantages? This paper demonstrates how the Modi administration is making efforts to project India's soft power in the service of larger strategic goals. The use of soft power is designed to complement India's conventional diplomacy, boost its international image, project it as a peaceful rising power, improve relations with other countries, and help attract foreign investment, technology, and tourists in order to promote economic growth and development.     

Transforming the Unbound Elephant to the Lovable Asian Hulk: Why is Modi Leveraging India’s Soft Power?

Prime Minister Modi’s administration has renewed emphasis on highlighting India’s soft power resources such as yoga, democratic values, spirituality, etc. Modi has also launched an aggressive public relations and marketing campaign to boost India’s economic growth. This article examines the role and importance of soft power resources in Modi’s foreign policy. The author argues that Modi is applying a two-pronged strategy of simultaneously adopting an aggressive sales pitch to boost India’s economic growth and leveraging India’s soft power to mitigate potential threats emanating from the country’s growing hard power. While soft power resources generally supplement a state’s hard power towards achieving foreign policy goals, Modi is using India’s soft power to draw attention away from the state’s rising military power. While India is enhancing its existing military power, Modi is engaging India’s neighbours and other great powers to ensure that its rise is intended to be peaceful, non-threatening and entirely benevolent. This is in stark contrast to how Asian states as well as the world perceive China’s rise. This article also questions the effectiveness of this strategy and predicts that this strategy should bode well for India in maintaining its international reputation and relationships.     

South Africa’s foreign policy aspirations and the National Development Plan (NDP 2030): the role of soft power

Chapter 7 of the NDP 2030 articulates a foreign policy vision for South Africa over two decades. While the NDP acknowledges the place of ‘soft power’ in realising this vision, it remains doubtful whether South Africa will indeed take advantage of the enormous gains offered by soft power as a foreign policy lever. This paper examines the role of soft power in achieving the foreign policy mandates prescribed in the Plan. It argues that, like other regional powers such as China, South Africa needs to pay more attention to its soft power attributes if it is to fast-track the successful implementation of its foreign policy ambitions for 2030. We conclude that sustaining South Africa’s rising position and influence in the international system and in Africa, will largely depend on its ability to consciously adjust its foreign policy trajectories – in the long term – in tandem with its soft power resources and competences.     

A declining or stable image? An assessment of the United States' soft power in Africa

While the concept of soft power was coined by US scholar Joseph Nye in the early 1990s, the scholarly analysis of the US soft power in Africa remains scarce. This article seeks to engage with the question of soft power arising from US policies, political values and cultural exports in Africa. It employs both primary and secondary data, and focuses on the soft power impact of AGOA and PEPFAR on African perspectives on the US, as well as the impact of US popular culture, brands and educational exchange. The article found that, despite surveys pointing to increasing anti-US sentiments globally in the 21^st century, Washington still wields significant soft power in Africa.