The comparative study of U.S.-China soft power diplomacy to ASEAN

Abstract

This paper addresses the following question: “How have China and the U.S. Used soft power diplomacy differently in ASEAN countries in recent times?” Soft power has been a key topic of global interest for more than thirty years. Joseph Nye has defined soft power as “the ability [of states] to obtain preferred outcomes by attraction rather than coercion or payment.”[1] It is something embodied in a country's "cultural values, social system, development model, way of life, and ideology" and an important component of a country's comprehensive national power. A key way to generate “attraction” is through culture, especially cultural diplomacy. Enhancing a country's soft power is conducive to strengthening its comprehensive national power, maintaining, and safeguarding its national security, and realizing its national interests. Since the end of the Cold War, China-ASEAN relations have developed by leaps and bounds. Besides developing economic cooperation, China has also used soft power diplomacy in ASEAN as an important means of promoting its interests. The U.S. has likewise seen ASEAN as a key part of its U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy, and many This paper attempts to analyze the soft-power diplomacy of China and the United States in the ASEAN region in the form of a comparative study, based on soft power theory, using many examples to fully reflect and analyze the advantages and disadvantages of soft power construction between China and the United States, to perceive the connotation and role of soft power diplomacy more clearly. This paper falls into six parts. The introduction in part 1 discusses the problem, it will address in relation to the background, current research, and research methods. This is followed in part 2 by an elaboration of the theory of soft power. Part 3 considers the motivation and development of China's soft power in the ASEAN region, while part 4 analyzes the development status of U.S. soft power in the ASEAN region. The fifth part gives examples and analyzes several examples of soft power implemented by China and the U.S. in the ASEAN region and compares the soft power diplomacy invested by the two countries in the ASEAN region in recent years. The final part combines the above analysis and a comparative analysis of the soft power efforts of the two countries in the ASEAN region to analyze their strengths and limitations and suggests ways to improve the development of soft power.

[1] Nye, J. (2017). Soft power: the origins and political progress of a concept. Palgrave communications, 3(1), 1-3.