Hong’s Cave

I just can’t help but think that if the current Bush Administration is doing much harm to the U.S.’s overall power than good. By “power”, I mean the power to influence others and convince them of one’s own agenda.

It is undeniable that the U.S.’s hard power (or direct power, such as military or economy) is unmatched by any other countries now. Its military dominance will probably continue for a while (the only weakness about the U.S.’s military power is its own people, public opinions). And its economy as a hard power is as strong as its military. The U.S. still has most of the influential capitals and businesses of the world. Not only those, it also has one of the largest, most sophisticated markets in the world. Maybe, China will be and probably become the only real contender to the U.S.’s economic dominance. These are what makes others to regard the U.S. as a “bully”, but so far, the bully’s other sides have kept it under control.

However, the U.S.’s soft power seems to be diminishing recently. It probably peaked right after the World War II, but it has been slowly decaying (just like any other things) ever since. And in recent years, with the bubbles of the New Economy popped and with many corporate scandals, the other’s perception of the American Dream and the American capitalism is becoming more realistic and less awe-inspiring.

And as the commercialization of everything has been accelerating in the U.S., the influence of the American culture seems to have become less. This mass-market-driven commercialization inevitably accompanies the “banalization” [my term] of the culture. That is, to appeal to broader audience (which means to be “efficient”, “cost effective” and in “the economy of scale”), one has to appeal to more basic, “lower” common denominators. What was once regarded as “high culture” in the developing and 3rd countries, it becomes just some trendy cheap stuff as they get exposed to more variety.

And so far in the current administration, there has been several incidents where our ideals of democracy, equality, liberty and human rights have been shattered, even within the U.S. soils. After the 9-11, anywhere can be a battle field and the Bush/Rumsfeld/Ashcroft would believe that anything can be compromised. We hear about several U.S. citizens held in military facility without legal representation. We hear about some legal aliens held in prison for following what was asked of them. All this will just make the others think that the American ideals are nothing but fragile illusions that we ourselves will be ready throw away at a moment’s notice. This makes it harder for others to believe that following the American way of life is the thing to do.

Anyway, as Mr. Nye noted, the U.S. cannot maintain the dominance in hard power forever. There will come a time when we have to rely on the accumulated soft power to make our interests heard by others. I just can’t help but think that the current administration isn’t helping at all.