According to the Oxford Dictionary, power is the capacity to influence the behaviour of others or the course of events. There are two main types of power.
Hard power is the use of coercion through military and political means to influence other nations or political bodies.
Soft power is the use of economic or cultural influence to co-opt others, making them want the same outcomes as you. For example, a country can gain soft power by having an attractive culture, political values, and foreign policies.
The United States of America demonstrates soft power through the global outreach of brands such as Nike, Apple, and McDonald’s. It also wields significant hard power, such as demonstrated through the Vietnam war and Iraq war.
Recently, however, we have seen a shift in the global arena of soft power. While the USA remains the top military and political power, China has started tipping the balance towards itself.
What if I told you that most of your favourite games would not have happened if not for most of These Chinese brands? Tencent owns Epic Games (Fortnite), Roblox Corp (Roblox), Supercell (Clash Royale, Brawl Stars), and Riot Games (Valorant).
The very computer you use to read, write, and send emails could be a Chinese company; Lenovo commands a 23% market share of the PC market. And it’s not only China—other East Asian countries such as Japan and Korea have also expanded their global reach. Jpop, Kpop, along with brands like UNIQLO, Samsung, and Sony have driven up the soft power of their respective countries steadily over the past decades.
Great inventions such as the colour TV, the steam engine and the lightbulb helped America push itself to power over the past few centuries. While America is far from losing its power, the competition is catching up. In today’s world, with cheap manufacturing in China and rapid innovation in the rest of the world, the US’s cemented status as the unrivalled global superpower may be starting to show some cracks.
Wherever you go, you just can’t seem to escape it:
‘Made In China’
Sources:
- PC vendor market share worldwide 2024 | Statista. (2024). Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/267018/global-market-share-held-by-pc-vendors/#:~:text=PC%20vendor%20shipment%20share%20worldwide%202006%2D2024&text=The%20overall%20market%20leader%20in,Inc.%20had%20around%2053.03%20million.
- admin_cn. (2023, December 14). Soft Power and the American Climacteric – IRIS. IRIS. https://www.iris-france.org/180916-soft-power-and-the-american-climacteric/
- Soft Power and Morals in U.S. Foreign Policy < Sasakawa USA. (2022, June 3). Sasakawa USA. https://spfusa.org/publications/soft-power-and-morals-in-u-s-foreign-policy/
- Raja Krishnamoorthi. (2023, September 29). The U.S. Is in a Soft-Power Competition With China. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/09/29/congress-shutdown-us-china-ccp-soft-power-competition-biden-xi-jinping-beijing/
