Asian presence has been radically increasing in Africa in the past two decades. As Chinese advancement into Africa has become more active and visible to the rest of the world since 2000, Asian soft power as an alternative of the traditional hegemonic Western power over Africa has become more noticeable. Through placement of soft power, major East Asian countries including China, Japan and South Korea are growing their influence on economic and diplomatic activities in the African continent. Numerous topics regarding “China in Africa” followed by the subject of “Japan in Africa” have been subject to discourse and research in academia and journalism. However, “South Korea in Africa” is emerging as a new subject.
Korea brings a new perspective into Asian-African relations with its abundant soft-power potential. Although there is skepticism towards Korean influence in Africa due to its relatively small domain of hard military power in comparison with China and Japan, Korea’s distinctive soft power strategies in Africa is expected to impact dynamics of Asian soft power and Africa. Examining how Korea utilizes its soft power in comparison with the existing soft power holders such as China and Japan will help understand the further development potentials, limits, and possible suggestions to promoting East Asian soft power in a way that would lead to a more positive outcome both in Asia and Africa.
Soft power refers to a form of national power that is based on ideational and cultural attractiveness, utilized by actors in international relations to achieve strategic imperatives. The concept of soft power was first introduced in the late twentieth century by Joseph Nye in his book, “Bound to Lead”.
Joseph Nye defined the idea of soft p...
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...exists no clear definition of the term which clearly distinguishes it from hard power. Therefore, it may be difficult for countries to set an optimum balance between hard soft power to enhance their influence in Africa.
21st century is an era of soft power which rests on culture, values, knowledge, technology and science. East Asia including Japan, China, and Korea adopted soft power to promoting their relationship with African nations. Each of these countries is competing to bolster their national images through soft power. However, there exists limits to soft power strategies and it seems for further development of Asia-Africa relations, it is important to find and expand areas of cooperation where China, Japan and Korea could work together to promote regionalism and more ideally, a regional community of both Asia and Africa to benefit from their relationship.
To begin with, the foreign policies that affected the United States during the 1950s and 1960s include: “containment,” “brinkmanship,” and “domino theory.” The concept of “containment” involved utilizing “firm” military, economic, and diplomatic tactics to halt the proliferation of communism, improve United States’ national security, and augment worldwide influence. In supplement of “containment,” U.S. involvement in Korea provided an example of how “containment” influenced the decision to enter the country. With China falling to communism at the hands of Mao Zedong, Korea was the next to become “infected.” Subsequently, Korea underwent a physical division, which resulted in the communist state of North Korea and the now vulnerable South Korea. Urgent to unify Korea as a communist nation, North Korea invaded South Korea and war broke out. In the midst of this, the United States had seen China fall to communism and now h...
Power, Marcus, Giles Mohan, and May Tan-Mullins. China's Resource Diplomacy in Africa: Powering Development? Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Print.
It seems China’s interest in African countries is not in territorial occupation, but rather in international prominence and expanding its rapidly growing economic agenda. Kenya’s richness in commodities and weak commercial laws are an idealistic setting for rapid market entry, therefore China has been able to effortlessly influence and expand its mercantilist ambitions without distress of competition from the west. Even though the United States is focused in providing conditional aid to Kenya, the effects of Chinese expansion in Kenya on U.S. interest are alarming, for China is offering cold hard cash that is f...
American policies demonstrated narrow interest in Africa in the early 1950’s. As every move was suppose a strategic one soon after WWII, Africa was a low precedence harmonious to public needs. For solicitation, Michael Clough eminent that “American policy makers seldom gave pre-eminence to initiatives that did not attend U.S. Strategic share” during this period (Clough, 1). Africa held contracted value at this moment in time. Moreover, Henry Byroade, head of African affairs in 1953 bluntly say, “consider us be candid in allow our post in the puissance an...
The debate between hard and soft power first emerged when Joseph Nye introduced the concept of soft power through his criticisms on declinist theories. Soft power was initially popularised in the early 1990s, however its roots date back to the 1980s when Nye criticised declinists and their analysis on the downturn of US relative power. (Zahran, Ramos, 2010, p. 13) Soft power in Nye’s beliefs is in opposition to hard power and describes it as: “The ability to make others want what you want.” (Zahran, Ramos, 2010, p. 13) Soft power relies on culture, ideologies, and institutions to attract supporters and power. In contrast, hard power uses a much more aggressive method and engages through incentives or threats that are usually correlated to
African leaders knew that isolating Africa from international politics would harm security and economic stability, but opening their states to aid from the US and the USSR allowed for foreign ideological influence. The West planned to stop the spread of foreign communism with “containment” policies, using the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as military force, while the USSR responded with the Warsaw Treaty Organization in 1955. These military organizations were examples of the actions the West and East took to make themselves appear intimidating to other states, but neither resulted in major military action. Instead, they acted as support and communication systems for the West and East as they tried...
Nanto, Dick K., and Mark E. Manyin. "China–North Korea Relations." North Korean Review 7.2 (2011): 94-101. Print.
The author insists to look at China’s rise from the East Asian context by giving historical references and concluding that China was a dominating power responsible for peace in the region then; and is now as well. He asserts again and again that East Asian states do not fear china’s growth and do not work to balance its rise contrary to standard IR theories based on western experiences. This is mainly because of two bold reasons. For the first argument, David references to the hierarchical system prevalent in East Asia from 1300-1900 where the neighboring states looked over to China as a stable centroid. The second reason is that all the nations today are self-occupied in achieving economic growth and in their internal power issues.
We must understand the differences in the African and European political experience in order to understand the difficulties faced by African leaders. In Herbst’s book States and Power in Africa, First I will give an overview of the differences between the African and European advances toward becoming a nation state. Next the reasons why these differences are important to understanding the difficulties faced by African leaders will be discussed. Finally I will give an overview of possible alternatives to the current system of states in Africa.
Nye, Jr., Joseph S. “Hard and Soft Power in American Foreign Policy.” In Paradox of American Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. 4-17. Print.
Power is a very strong tool that can either be used for the better of mankind or the destruction of it. Theodore Roosevelt stated “speak softly and carry a big stick”, claiming that power of negotiation needs to be backed up with actually military strength. Power is something that is endearing and ambiguous. One’s perceived view of power may be entirely different from another’s but that does not mean that either is wrong. The time, the place, and the situation will all affect the effectiveness of a power. Power is whatever you perceive it to be and more.
Lam, Peng Ur (2007) “Japan’s Quest ‘Soft Power’: Attraction and Limitation.” East Asia 24: 349-363.
Hard power, however, is less useful today as the global system changes in its disfavor. In addition to soft power, smart power strategies play an important role in the contemporary international system. SOFTPOWER . Different writers scholars and philosophers have given different definitions of soft power what i believe soft power is the power to get result of your own preference without using arms built these can be one's trick ideas politics etcAccording to Nye, an organization’s Soft Power is based on three resources: its culture (and how attractive it looks to others), its political values (and whether it lives up to them at home and abroad), its foreign policies (and whether these are seen as legitimate and moral). In describing the effectiveness of Soft Power, Nye argues that "seduction is always more effective than coercion, and many values like democracy, human rights, and individual opportunities are deeply seductive". HARD POWER VS SOFT POWER The idea to distinguish between hard power and soft power was first introduced by Nye* more than two decades ago (1990). In general, he defines power as the “ability to affect others to get the outcomes one wants” and command or hard power as coercive 'power wielded through inducements or
The oxford dictionary has attempted to define power as the “ability to influence people or control the behaviour of people”. Power has been related to different forms such as political economic, military and even psychological. Power has widely been considered to be the classic determinant of conflict between interstates. Realists view power as a source of state preference. Animosity is constantly caused around power relations which in turn determine why states go to war and why politicians emphasize the role of power in conditioning distance. There is a non-linear relationship of power between the plural perspectives of realism. Realists consider states to be the principal actors in international relations as they are deeply concerned with the security of their own nation especially for the pursuit of national interest. However with this perspective there has been some scepticism with regards to the relevancy of morality and ethi...
Inkenberry, John. “The Rise of China and the Future of the West.” Foreign Affairs. The Council of Foreign Relations. Jan 2008. Web. 9 Mar 2014.