Reuters (March 14)
“Boeing’s belatedly grounded jets” serve as “an apt symbol of the erosion of U.S. soft power. After saying there was no problem in the wake of two crashes,” the FAA followed the lead of other governments and banned the 737 MAX.” These days, “even allies are increasingly skeptical of Washington’s leadership.” It is challenging to measure “the influence a country wields though its cultural, technological and economic strength,” but the U.S. fell “to fourth in the Soft Power 30 ranking last summer, from top of the list just two years earlier.”
Tags: 737 MAX, Allies, Belated, Boeing, Crashes, FAA, Grounded, Influence, Leadership, Skeptical, Soft power, U.S.
Financial Times (January 26)
“The alternative facts beloved of Donald Trump’s White House doubtless record that the president’s inaugural address was greeted with unalloyed applause across the world. The speech was closely watched. The preponderant reaction among America’s friends was disbelieving horror…. The soft power accumulated by the US over decades drained to nothing in 17 short minutes.”
Bloomberg (August 19)
“Beijing still believes money can buy the trust and soft power it craves, which explains the new $100 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank it has sponsored. But as long as analysts don’t feel the Chinese government’s pronouncements are genuinely reliable, skepticism about the yuan will only grow.”
Tags: AIIB, Beijing, Government, Money, Reliable, Skepticism, Soft power, Trust, Yuan
Los Angeles Times (June 12)
“China will almost certainly pass the United States in the total size of its economy within a decade or so. But if one looks also at military and “soft power” resources, the U.S. is likely to remain more powerful than China for at least the next few decades.” But “the U.S. has to get away from thinking just about power over others and think about power with others. We do not want to become so fearful that we are not able to find ways to cooperate with China” in solving transnational challenges.
Tags: China, Cooperation, Economy, Military, Resources, Soft power, Transnational challenges, U.S.
