India and Soft Power

If there is one attribute of independent India to which we have not perhaps paid enough attention, it is a quality which we would do well to cherish and promote in today's world: our "soft power".

I find myself yearning for an India of "soft power" I am sure this "soft power" of India will play a large role in the goodwill that India and Indians enjoy all over the world.

The notion of soft power is relatively new in international discourse. The term was coined by Harvard's Joseph Nye to describe the extraordinary strengths of the United States that went well beyond American military dominance.

"[Soft power] is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments. It arises from the attractiveness of a country's culture, political ideals, and policies. When our policies are seen as legitimate in the eyes of others, our soft power is enhanced."

The fact is that the U.S. is the home of Boeing and Intel, Microsoft and MTV, Hollywood and Disneyland, McDonald's and Kodak — in short of most of the major products that dominate daily life around our globe. The attractiveness of these assets, and of the American lifestyle of which they are emblematic, is that they permit the U.S. to maximise what Dr. Nye calls its "soft power" --the ability to attract and persuade others to adopt the U.S.' agenda, rather than relying purely on the dissuasive or coercive "hard power" of military force. Its subtly-deployed soft power is therefore as important to the U.S. as --perhaps more so than --its well-established "hard" power.

In his recent book The Paradox of American Power, Nye took the analysis of soft power beyond the United States

He wrote, three types of countries are likely to gain soft power and hence succeed.
"those whose dominant cultures and ideals are closer to prevailing global norms (which now emphasise liberalism, pluralism, autonomy); those with the most access to multiple channels of communication and thus more influence over issues are framed; and those whose credibility is enhanced by their domestic and international performance"

Undoubtedly the US fits all these descriptions, but other countries too have made use of this "soft power" beyond the US. France for example with their Alliance Francaise to promote French and French literature around the world.

But soft power does not rely merely on governmental action: for the U.S., Hollywood and MTV have done more to promote the idea of America as a desirable and admirable society than the Voice of America.

"Soft power," Nye says, "is created partly by governments and partly in spite of them." What does this mean for India?

It means giving attention, encouragement and active support to the aspects and products of our society that the world would find attractive--- not in order directly to persuade others to support us, but rather to enhance our country's standing in their eyes.

Bollywood is already doing this by bringing its brand of glitzy entertainment not just to the Indian diaspora in the U.S. or the United Kingdom but to the screens of African countries--Syrians and Senegalese-- who may not understand the Hindi dialogue but catch the spirit of the films, and look at India with stars in their eyes as a result.

Indian classical music and dance have the same effect. So does the work of Indian fashion designers, who have even dominated the show windows of New York's Lord and Taylor.

Indian cuisine, spreading around the world, raises our culture higher in people's reckoning (the way to foreigners' hearts is through their palates).

When India's cricket team triumphs or its tennis players claim Grand Slams; when a bhangra beat is infused into a Western pop record or an Indian choreographer invents a fusion of Bharathanatyam and ballet, when Indian women win the "Miss World" and "Miss Universe" contests, or when "Monsoon Wedding" wows the critics and "Lagaan" claims an Oscar nomination

Indianness of engineers and software developers is taken as synonymous with mathematical and scientific excellence, it is India that gains in respect.

But it is not just these material accomplishments that enhance our soft power. Even more important are the values and principles for which India stands above all our precious pluralism. Our great democratic elections.

The spiritualism of India has attracted people from all over the world, and its Gurus have travelled around the world spreading the message of yoga and mysticism--when each of these things happens, our country's soft power is enhanced.

The biggest instrument of our soft power is the Indian Diaspora, through the influence and respect they command in the countries in which they live.

After Lana Makhanik, a yuppie Russian immigrant to the United States, saw Monsoon Wedding, the "Bolly-Holly" romantic comedy about a rambunctious New Delhi family, she came out ecstatic.

"The color, the vibrancy, the joy and fun of it all!" she gushed, "It makes me want to be Indian!" Way to go.

The Godhra incidents and the recent tarnishing of the religious pontiff isnt helping in anyway. Let us not allow the spectre of religious intolerance and political opportunism to undermine the soft power which is India's greatest asset in the world of the 21st Century.