David W. Ellwood

As the use of military force to resolve disputes between nations becomes less plausible in most regions of the world so the struggle for influence intensifies. This trend is reinforced by the diffusion of conventional forms of power away from governments to non-state actors, and the ever-greater speed of the 'information revolution'. Among the consequences has been the rise to global fame of the concept of 'Soft Power', in theory a means to turn a country's attributes and achievements into a lever for gaining advantage in international competitions of all sorts. China has invested in it heavily and consciously. Even nations such as Russia and Iran are using soft power language and tools. The British foreign minister talks of a 'race for soft power'.  Image-making, cultural diplomacy and propaganda are all components of a state's – or an institution's – soft power strategy today.

The course will study the inter-acting dynamics of 'soft' and 'hard' power, using contemporary and historical perspectives.  It will suggest that the tension between them can best be understood in terms of the politics of sovereignty, identity and – above all – modernity. Rising waves of anxiety everywhere about relations between national communities and globalised markets, between the state and its citizens, between generations, genders, ethnic groups and religions are all part of the politics of identity and modernization. Would-be models of modernity present themselves as soft power superpowers in these confrontations.

Case studies from around the world will show that a real and imagined America has been and remains central to many disputes about the relationship between power, influence and modernity. No matter how much weaker America's conventional forms of hegemony may appear compared to their heyday, American products, icons, technologies, languages, media industries, personalities etc can still project forms of innovation which other societies feel they must come to terms with, if they want to choose modernity over marginalization. In contrast, much political extremism in the last century and this one is a reaction against western, capitalist forms of modernity, and America's in particular. (Cross listed American Foreign Policy/European and Eurasian Studies/International Relations) (T&H)