Global Asia
Fall 2012
(East Asia Foundation)

The latest edition of “Global Asia,” a quarterly journal published by the East Asia Foundation, features seven articles on soft power, smart power and public diplomacy in Asia.

“While economic and military power continue to dominate perceptions of geopolitical influence and shape the contours of traditional diplomacy, the idea that nations must also resort to soft power and public diplomacy in order to advance their interest has taken hold in much of the world, including Asia,” the introduction page reads.

The authors argue that governments and policymakers must now try to be more creative in conjuring a positive impression of their country to the world.

Nicholas J. Cull, professor of public diplomacy at the University of Southern California, writes that Asian countries do not yet have a predominant leader in soft power, they “all have an advantage in listening and learning from one another.”

Cull writes that soft power has increased the number of authorities that can speak for the country and that nations that only use hard power will be judged more harshly in the future because of its inaccessibility.

Keith Dinnie, author of “Nation Branding,” compares nation branding efforts of different Asian countries such as Korea, Japan, China and Singapore, and argues that nations must cooperate with stakeholders to ensure that nation branding can show “the full richness of the country’s identity to be expressed in diverse ways to multiple audiences.”

The remaining five articles focus on the soft power progress of China, Japan, Korea and Australia, and reflect on each country’s history and suggestions on how to look forward to the future regarding soft power. 

(sangyj@heraldcorp.com)