Saving the U.S.'s Soft Power

Though the United States remains a significant world power, its perception on the global stage grows increasingly negative. Global views of U.S. leadership and policy have declined, nations do not believe that the U.S. considers their interests, and progressively view the U.S. as a threat. While the United States’ global reputation might seem insignificant, due to the mindset of American exceptionalism,  it has important consequences. It damages the U.S.’s level of soft power, impacting the nature of nations’ behaviors towards the U.S. and the country’s economy. A more positive view of the U.S. and a more globalist mindset would contribute to better international relationships as well as more economic growth. 

While hard power relates to the ability to coerce through direct force or the threat of force, often in terms of military power, soft power is the “type that makes people in other countries want to align their interests with the U.S. -- not because they have to, but because they want to.” Adopting more aspects of globalism, which is “the operation or planning of economic and foreign policy on a global basis,” would encourage countries to do so. 

Researchers studied the effect of soft power by comparing how countries vote at the UN with that countries’ attitudes concerning US foreign policy, and found that there is a connection between opinion about US foreign policy and other countries’ policies towards the US. Therefore, a negative global view of US leadership and foreign policy could lead to more tension and unfavorable policies from other nations if it continues.

Others studied the economic effect of soft power as well. Andrew Rose, a professor at UC Berkeley, estimates that a “1% net increase in soft power raises exports by around 0.8%, holding other things constant; being perceived as a force for good has a direct economic payoff.” This concept is intuitive, which he highlights by comparing it to sales generally— more positively perceived salesmen achieve higher sales, just as, “countries that are admired for their positive global influence reap the benefit of higher exports.” Gallup cites this research as well, stating that, “America's recent unpopularity abroad is costing the country billions of dollars in global trade.”According to Rose’s paper, the economic cost of this decline in positive perception of over 20 percentage points—and the consequential decrease in soft power— has cost at least $3 billion so far. Additionally, an increase in soft power may decrease the need for hard power, meaning defense spending could be lowered, allowing for opportunities for government spending elsewhere.

This research emphasizes the often overlooked importance of soft power, in international affairs as well as the economy. However, the U.S’s level of soft power is at the risk of decreasing as the U.S’s stature has been declining around the world. People are skeptical of both U.S. leadership and specific policies. Gallup polls show that the current global approval rating of U.S. leadership is 31%, the lowest level of the past three administrations, dropping 18 percentage points from Obama’s 48% in 2016.  Not only is the attitude towards American leadership negative, nations also perceive specific policies negatively. Due to these policies, which tend to be anti globalist, the U.S’s image as well as soft power continue to decline. The US-Mexico border wall is an example. The global perception of this is fairly negative with a median of 76% opposed to this policy in a survey of 37 countries. Most countries also disapproved of the travel ban on Muslim-majority nations. Other policies, such as pulling out of international trade and climate agreements, have been met with global opposition as well. These statistics show a pattern of negative global perception, even for policies that directly impact only one region, because they seem to point towards an overall decline in globalistic aspects in US policy. All of these policies seem to reject concepts of globalism and international cooperation, focusing instead on only one state - the U.S. 

This perceived decline of globalism in U.S. foreign policy connects to the growing evidence from polling showing few countries believe that the U.S. considers their interests in foreign policy.  Of the 25 countries surveyed, a median of 70% say that their interests are not taken into account when the US makes international decisions. Over half of these countries experienced significant drops in the number of people who felt their interests are considered since the last survey in 2013. Germany, for example, experienced the largest decline of 31 percentage points, from 50% in 2013 to 19% in 2018. These statistics overall could indicate that the US is not perceived as being globalist, or easy to cooperate with. Additionally, when other nations feel that their interests are not considered, they would logically be less inclined to consider the U.S.’s interests. This would be a way the U.S.’s soft power declines.

Not only do countries view less globalist U.S. policies as negative and continue to feel that their interests are not acknowledged, they then also perceive the U.S. as a threat. An analysis of a recent survey by Pew Research Center found that in most of the nations surveyed, those “who have a more unfavorable view of the U.S. are also more likely to say that American power and influence is a threat to their nation.” In the 22 countries surveyed, a median of 45% see the U.S. as a major threat, which is an increase from 38% in 2017 and 25% in 2013. Nations that view the U.S. this way could then be less likely likely to support policies, in terms of international relations or economics, that would give the U.S. more power or advantages in order to decrease the threat. This is another way global image could lead to a decrease in soft power. 

Global perception, in connection with soft power, has the ability to hurt chances of more favorable foreign policies from other nations and it can result in economic loss. At this time, the United States’ global stature and soft power is declining, which is evident through polls reflecting attitudes towards various aspects of the United States image. Recognizing the importance of this decline and making efforts to reverse it by attempting to be—or simply appear— more globalist prove to be beneficial to the U.S. in the form of better international relationships that contribute to more favorable policies from nations as well as billions of dollars.