There is an art in convincing other countries to adopt your values, ideals, culture and vision — not by threatening invasion or waving a checkbook but by making your national image and society so irresistible that everyone else wants to sign up for it. That, in essence, is “soft power”, a term coined by American academic Joseph Nye in 1990. It is the ability to shape other countries’ preferences through attraction rather than coercion.
Nye put it succinctly: “When one country gets other countries to want what it wants, it might be called co-optive or soft power.” Culture, political ideals, and foreign policies that look legitimate and appealing become the weapons. Hard power (tanks, tariffs, threats) gets you compliance; soft power gets you converts. In short, soft power is about building friendships and alliances, rather than creating enemies.
For most of the post-World War II era, the United States was the master at wielding soft power. Hollywood sold the “American Dream” in glorious technicolor. Jazz and rock ’n’ roll seduced the youth behind the Iron Curtain. Voice of America and Fulbright scholarships whispered democracy into receptive ears. The Marshall Plan rebuilt Europe and simultaneously advertised American benevolence. By the 1990s, Western soft-power dominance looked unassailable. The Berlin Wall fell not to artillery but to blue jeans, McDonald’s, and the irresistible pull of consumer choice.
Western and especially American soft-power dominance had solid foundations. It rested on three pillars identified by Nye: a culture that others found attractive (when it was), political values that seemed universal (when practiced), and foreign policies perceived as legitimate (when not hypocritical). For decades those pillars stood tall.
Fast-forward three decades, and the pillars are wobbling. America’s reputation has taken hits from a wide range of perspectives: political polarization at home; aggressive interventionism abroad; racial tensions; a violent gun culture spawning murders and mass shootings; social inequality stemming from huge disparities of wealth, a weak social safety net, a broken healthcare system, and a growing perception that US values are preached more than practiced. Recent decisions — slashing foreign aid, muzzling Voice of America, reneging on international commitments, claiming that climate change is a hoax, treating allies like transactional partners, imposing punitive tariffs across the globe, turning away international students, and slamming the door on immigrants — have all accelerated the slide.
Brand Finance’s Global Soft Power Index still ranks the US No 1 overall, but its reputation ranking has slipped 11 places to 26th and governance scores are tumbling. Favorable international views of the US have dropped dramatically, with its friendliness rating falling 32 ranks to 156th in the world — its lowest rank on any metric ever. In perceptions of American good relations with other countries, there’s been a drop of 50 ranks to 99th; in generosity, it’s a drop of 68 ranks to 98th; for ease of doing business, there’s a drop of 21 ranks from fifth to 26th; and in support for climate action, it’s a drop of 16 ranks from second to 18th. These radical shifts have contributed to a steep decline in perceptions of trust, down 24 ranks to 57th.
Europe isn’t immune. The United Kingdom, once the respected elder statesman of soft power, has slipped to fourth place in the index for the first time. Until recently, Britain’s soft power had matched that of the US. Its impressive armory included the BBC World Service, the Commonwealth, Oxbridge, the “Mother of Parliaments”, and a rich cultural hinterland from Shakespeare to the Beatles, all underpinned by the English language becoming the world’s lingua franca. However, its post-Brexit identity crisis, economic and social malaise, and succession of transient, ineffective, unpopular governments, all amplified by a persistently negative “broken Britain” social media narrative, have had a profound impact. When you lose respect, the world stops listening. The uncertain future of the renowned BBC World Service, because of funding issues, is a symbol of the steady decline of Britain’s soft power. Brexit chaos, migration crises, and populist culture wars have made both the British and European models look less like a beacon and more like a cautionary tale. When your soft power rests on moral authority and you spend your days squabbling about party politics, sordid scandals, unwanted immigrants, and transgender pronouns, while your infrastructure crumbles, people notice.
Meanwhile, China has climbed to second place in the soft power index, with its highest-ever score. It now ranks higher than the US on 19 out of the 35 nation brand attributes, including education and science, where it has risen to first place. It also now ranks first globally for ease of doing business, future growth potential, technology and innovation, and advanced science.
At the heart of China’s rise up the soft-power index is its authenticity. In a world drowning in information, the winners aren’t those with the loudest megaphones or the biggest armies. It is those who convince the audience of their authentic narrative
While the US lectures about democracy, China builds — and increasingly, it builds experiences people actually want. The Belt and Road Initiative is the headline act — soft power with Chinese characteristics. Trillions of dollars have been spent on port, railway and highway infrastructure across the globe, advertising Chinese expertise, Chinese standards, Chinese values, and China’s image as a predictable, reliable, trusted development partner capable of delivering tangible benefits.
Accompanying this has been the expansion of Confucius Institutes, teaching Mandarin and promoting Chinese culture. Once viewed with suspicion in the West, these have quietly pivoted to the Global South, where demand for Mandarin and Chinese scholarships remains high. Similarly, since the first Chinese cultural center was opened in Mauritius in 1988, China has established 31 such centers around the world, promoting authentic Chinese culture, as well as boosting exchanges and cooperation between China and the rest of the world.
Additionally, Chinese soft power is being advanced around the world by China Global Television Network, beaming an appealing vision of a harmonious rising superpower. Even more significantly, Chinese-owned TikTok has become the world’s most downloaded app. It has done more to shape Gen Z’s worldview than any state broadcaster ever could. Viral dances, life hacks, and China travel trends are quietly normalizing a country that once felt distant. Young people, especially in the Global South, are learning Mandarin not because Beijing pressured them to, but because they want to understand the TikTok memes. Meanwhile, in the West, TikTok has spawned “Chinamaxxing”, a trend celebrating all things Chinese, from Chinese wellness practices and longevity exercises, to sharing videos of young Americans “learning to be Chinese”, to the clamor for Labubu dolls.
China has also pivoted from being seen as a remote destination to a tourism hub, reflecting the growing attraction of Chinese cities, heritage, and leisure opportunities. Visa-free policies, upgraded museums, Instagram-ready infrastructure, and of course spectacular scenery are turning curiosity into actual visits. In 2024-25, foreign tourist numbers nearly doubled. Part of China’s soft power is encouraging people to experience the country on their own terms. Admiring the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an, strolling along the Bund in Shanghai, sampling Uygur street food in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, or walking the Great Wall near Beijing creates better ambassadors for China than any scripted advertising campaign.
The results are measurable. In Pew surveys, China has closed the favorability gap with the US, notably in Latin America and parts of Africa. China’s soft-power gains may be rooted in pragmatic rather than ideological partnerships, but pragmatism has its attractions, especially when Western ideology has lost its shine.
At the heart of China’s rise up the soft-power index is its authenticity. In a world drowning in information, the winners aren’t those with the loudest megaphones or the biggest armies. It is those who convince the audience of their authentic narrative. The West still has a script featuring democracy and freedom, but it’s looking increasingly tarnished and hypocritical. Meanwhile, China is writing a new chapter creating an alternative vision to US domination on the world stage. It is a vision of economic investment and partnership, reliability, pragmatism, efficiency, technological advancement, cultural engagement, and peaceful coexistence. Its success depends less on GDP or missile counts and more on remembering that seduction beats domination every time. You can buy hard power; you can only earn attraction.
The real winners in soft power are the countries that manage to earn that attraction without appearing to try too hard — the ones whose culture, values, and policies simply feel inevitable. In the end, the ultimate soft power is making the world forget you’re exercising it at all. US mastery of this art is now in sharp decline, with China stepping in to fill the vacuum. The world is witnessing a quiet revolution.
The author is a British historian and former principal of Sha Tin College, an international secondary school in Hong Kong.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
