The hard benefits of soft power

If the Rorschach test was comprised of the American flag rather than inkblots, millions of people around the world likely would conjure mental images of military might and materiel: Apache helicopters, drones, and “jarheads” wielding M4s among said images. Our fighting forces remain the most respected (and feared) on Earth. Indeed, no nation is more effective at projecting “hard power” than the U.S. Our gladiatorial prowess notwithstanding, history has demonstrated that American “soft power” is at least as important as its bellicose counterpart. That soft power is projected in myriad ways: cultural (e.g., entertainment), scientific (e.g., medical technology), economic (e.g., financial assistance), and governmental (e.g., diplomacy). Further, while China is an encroaching economic and technological superpower, no other nation comes close to the scope and scale of soft power that the U.S. currently enjoys. However, neo-isolationism (disguised as “America first”) is causing our nation to retreat from its traditional global leadership role. And geopolitics, like nature, abhors a vacuum. Thus, China and Russia are attempting to fill said vacuum. Lest one believe that soft power is simply a naïve exercise, one would do well to remember what the U.S. did in the aftermath of World War II. To begin, it...