For more go to http://www.softpowernetwork.com

1. An introduction and training workshop on:
Part 1: History of a Big Idea: from Joseph Nye to Avaaz
Part 2: Understanding and developing Soft Power
Part 3: Soft Power Nation

2. PART1: Soft Power -
History of a Big Idea

3. Soft Power is a term coined by Joseph Nye, foreign policy advisor to Bill Clinton. The context was post-
Vietnam USA: the first time that the world's only superpower had really seen the limits of hard power.
Vietnam, only a fraction of its size in terms of money and human resources, had beaten the US through
guerilla warfare. America's global dominance however was never in doubt and it was Jo Nye that
articulated its soft power – its ability to dominate the globe by other means such as culture, values,
products that everyone wanted. People would always want to be in a relationship with the US.

4. The soft power idea however, emerged into the Cold War world – a large section of the
world was deemed to be behind an Iron Curtain. Everyone knew who's side they were on.

5. GOOD V EVIL
IN A B / W WORLD
Soft power was just another tool in the war against the Red Peril (Russian and Chinese
Communism) to be deployed in a world that was shared out between bitter opponents.
Soft Power was an American schema.

6. In the post war period globalisation was unfolding on hard power terms: money above all - and to some
extent guns - shaped everything. To those excited about the prospect of an increasingly connected
globe, the anti-globalisation movement was a challenge. However, the anger was mostly with multi-
national companies who were taking advantage of a free market to dominate those countries without
the economic strength to resist.

7. With the advent of the internet media power is no longer in the hands of the few. Non-
state actors – from terrorists to hackers – seriously threaten the influence of
governments or security force

8. Remember military planes dusting countries with leaflets to get a
message across? What used to take huge amounts of time and money to
organise..

9. ..could now be achieved for nothing, in the comfort of the
bedroom of a 12 year old boy.

10. Major internet petition sites like Avaaz have many millions of members and are regularly quoted
by Chinese, Middle Eastern and US governments as evidence of the peoples' will. In democratic
countries this has a direct effect on government policies because the votes of Avaaz members –
and their extended audience - count. But non-democratic countries too, are increasingly aware
of their own global reputation and how this may effect their economic status and influence.

11. One man - Gene Sharp - author of a small book called How to Start a Revolution, is credited with
providing a template for the Arab Spring. Sharp's belief that all revolutions can be carried out without
violence based on the power of connectivity, use of art and symbols and conviction based on truth,
inspired hundreds of thousands of people in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria to rise up against
their hard powered oppressors.

12. TAHRIR SQUARE, EGYPT,2011. A MOMENT OF CHANGE IN PERCEPTIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST

13. Throughout most of our life-times Africa has been depicted in our media through the images of its
starving people – typically a malnourished baby without hope of survival.
Today, thanks to the mobile phone revolution, Africans are themselves shaping a new image of the
continent. An energetically mediated story of the growing middle class is generating new confidence
in Africa, leading to much increased foreign investment and economic growth.

14. Part 2: Understanding and Developing Soft Power

15. ......
POWER AND AGENCY
co-operation? What is agency? How do we make
a difference – not just in our own
lives, but in our world?
What is power? Who wields it,
what does it look like?
In the morning we will focus on
the difference between hard and
soft power, its relationship to Power of prayer?
agency and how to recognise it in
our environment.
a throw of the dice? In the afternoon we will look at
how to harness the power to
change the direction of events in
our community, nation and
globally.
leveraging?

16. Group Exercise no.1:
WHO OR WHAT HAS
THE MOST POWER
OR INFLUENCE IN THE WORLD?
Discuss the nature of this power:
What are its characteristics?

17. Group Exercise 2
WHO OR WHAT HAS
THE MOST POWER
OR INFLUENCE OVER
YOU PERSONALLY?
Discuss nature of
this power: is it
different?

18. Disaggregating Power
Hard power is force, soft power is attraction ie the
potential for relationship. Through relationship we can
have influence, without it we are only shouting at people.
Hard power is transactional: it has an object, exerting
power over something
Soft power is transformational: through relationship it
changes both parties: power for something
SOFT HARD
ATTRACTION FORCE
TRANSFORMATIONAL TRANSACTIONAL
POWER FOR POWER OVER

19. 21C SMART POWER
SOFTER HARDER
20C SMART POWER
Smart power is not a middle way between hard and soft, but a variety of ways of combining
them.
When the term was first invented by Joseph Nye, smart power was just the best way to be
dominant in the world, using both hard and soft power. In other words, since it was operating
within a hard power era – under a hard umbrella - it was still a form of hard power.
Today the global culture has changed significantly: power has been distributed amongst a huge
network of non-state actors. No nation has control the way it used to have – or believed it had –
and all are obliged to develop relationships for influence.
Hence 21C smart power, in an era of growing soft power awareness, will be softer than harder: a
mix we have not yet experienced.

20. Group Exercise 3
WHAT WOULD A SMART POWER
FUTURE LOOK LIKE UNDER A
SOFT UMBRELLA?
What are the key elements of the shift you would expect to see in
an era of soft power awareness?What changes might occur in the
military? In our ideas of leadership? The role and operation of
money? Politics? Remember soft power is not good and hard
power bad: the shift is from less connected to more connected.

21. Group Exercise 4
Experiencing
HARD POWER
CHOOSE A SUBJECT YOU FEEL VERY STRONGLY ABOUT THAT
IS CURRENTLY NOT GETTING A FAIR HEARING:
USING ALL THE TOOLS OF HARD POWER – MONEY,
FORCEFULNESS, MANIPULATION – TRY TO MAKE YOUR
PARTNER ACCEPT YOUR POINT AND AGREE TO YOUR RULES

22. Group Exercise 5
SOFT POWER
WHAT IS THE FEELING?
WHAT ARE THE TOOLS?
If hard power feels disconnected, alienated,
requiring arousal to enforce, how does soft power
feel?
If hard power is delivered through guns and
money, sticks AND carrots, how is soft power
delivered? What are the tools?

23. On exploration,we find there
So what is Soft Power? is no easy line to draw
between soft and hard
power: each have elements
of the other depending on
the context within which it is
used.
For example, the army is a
hard power tool, but a
nation that is well armed
(hard) is often more
respected (soft) than one
that does not. Hollywood
and Bollywood are soft
power tools, but they are
also big business (hard) and
can manipulate power.
Individuals can have
charisma (soft) but celebrity
is a commodity to be bought
and sold (hard).

24. Drawing a hard to soft continuum
We have to create a much bigger continuum between the poles of hard and soft to
allow the many forms and tools to be seen.
At one extreme, soft power is simply the power emanating from an individual being
still, authentic and open – drawing people in through trust and the desire to relate.
Close to that is something closer to diplomacy: the active pursuit of relationship
achieved through opening up channels of communication. This can be done through
studying the needs of the other and shaping what one has to offer accordingly
pu So out
blic cia
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etw g/ ltur
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ula otia dia iplo pa ic b
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ACTIVE BEING
+
RELATIONSHIP POTENTIAL
=
POWER OF ATTRACTION

25. Exercise 6 in Couples
EXPERIENCING
SOFT POWER
Good relationship begins with deeply understanding the needs of the other.
By the end of these exercises you will be able to
read the mind of the other and know their preferences.
Experiencing rapport through layering experiences of
1) matching and mirroring

26. EXPERIENCING SOFT POWER:
BUILDING RELATIONSHIP POTENTIAL
THROUGH RAPPORT
2) noticing
In couples:
a) studies b)
b) turns away for 1 minute
b) turns back with subtle changes
a) notes changes
Reverse the procedure.
Repeat with increasing subtlety

27. Experiencing SOFT POWER:
BUILDING RELATIONSHIP POTENTIAL
THROUGH RAPPORT
3a) talk about someone you really like
3b) talk about someone you really don't like
Notice the different body language, tone of voice etc

28. Experiencing SOFT POWER:
BUILDING RELATIONSHIP POTENTIAL
THROUGH RAPPORT
4) reading the mind of the other
By the time you get to this fourth exercise,
your ability to intuit the preferences of the other
will be much enhanced. Ask your partner to talk
about a person you don't know and intuit their true
feelings about them.

29. ACTIVE BEING is difficult to achieve
because once you are self consciously
branding yourself, you lose authenticity.
NORWAY always comes out near the top
of any soft power leagues. People all
over the world see it as the home of
peace: the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded
there every year and people come from
all over the world to avail themselves of
the conflict resolution programmes they
offer.
However, when asked about this
achievement Mona Elisabeth BRØTHER
from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told
me that it arose naturally from the
people of Norway: they dislike conflict
and teach mediation from an early age.
Simply adopting an image and
promoting it does not have the same
power: it is strongest when it is
authentic.
To the left is a Norwegian Peace Jumper.

30. Group Exercise 7
Experiencing SOFT POWER
ACTIVE BEING
While we are often encouraged to express
ourselves, it remains difficult to know
who we are authentically being in the
world. How often do we have our own
image of ourselves contradicted by
others? This exercise asks us to sit with
ourselves for a while and write up to ten
points that go some way to describe who
we are truly being in the world. What are
our values? What do we do to uphold our
values? How do we exercise our values?
The following exercise is designed to
challenge your idea of control over your
image in the world.
1) Adopt the observer mode and describe yourself as accurately as you can, with no-one
listening. Make sure the description is honest and based in reality.
2) As your group to discuss and agree a description of you, what your values are and your
success at living your life accordingly
3) To the best of you ability try to convey this description to the group – using every soft
power tool you have from body language to stance and openness - and notice how easy or
difficult it is to do that
4) Compare notes with the group. Is your image of yourself the same as their's?

31. HOW IS SOFT POWER SHAPING YOU?
We aim to be authentic in the world but to what
extent are our preferences being actively shaped
by others? What follows are three industries
committed to exercising soft power over you.

32. 1) Power of the media: setting the agenda
The power of the media. Although we like to think our opinions are our own, to
what extent do we allow the media to FRAME the agenda ie to tell us what we
need to have an opinion on and what the choices are?

33. 1) Power of
the Media 2
Since the growth
of the internet,
many people have
tried to move
away from the
mainstream news
to look for input
from a variety of
sources. This can
leave us at the
mercy of even
more opinion and
persuasion. If we
select our own
news sources, are
we not still
narrowing down
our openness to
others' views?

34. 2) Power of advertising
Some of the very best artists, film directors, psychologists and writers
started their careers in advertising, using their skills to capture our
imagination and sell us something. Remember the above adverts from
the 80s? What could they be selling?

35. Yes, those sumptuous sensual ads were used to
sell .. cigarettes! Now known as lethal weapons.

36. 3. Power of government agenda: NUDGE
The power of government
agendas on our personal
behaviour.
To the left are pictures of a a
urinal in Holland. The local
council had too many complaints
about the state of the mens'
public toilets which were
regularly awash with piss.
So they organised for a small fly
to be etched onto the urinal
bowls which had the effect of
causing men to aim for it when
peeing. Result? 80% cleaner
public loos. This is what is
technically called a NUDGE.

37. Group Exercise 8
HOW MANY WAYS ARE YOU
BEING SHAPED
BY OTHER PEOPLES' AGENDAS?
How does the media affect you? How many different kinds of
media are you influenced by? What are you regularly buying that
you don't really need? Have you been nudged? What about your
peers, celebrities, national events, your neighbours lifestyle –
think of as many as you can.
WRITE ONTO POST IT NOTES
AND ADD TO CONTINUUM

38. Group Exercise 9
WHAT ARE THE TOOLS THAT ARE
AVAILABLE TO US FOR SOFT POWER?
In the light of the soft power tools that are used on us, what soft
power tools are available to us? How can we influence our families,
friends, community, government – the world?
Think about the way you dress, the petitions you sign, the ideas you tweet, the
websites you join or create yourself, the products you buy and those you wont
buy.
CREATING RELATIONSHIP POTENTIAL for ACTIVE BEING

39. Increasingly we are
invited to have a say in
how things are run. Is this
a sign of our growing
democracy or an
imposition upon our
privacy? Organisations
like Avaaz are increasingly
being quoted in
governments around the
world – proof that they
have influence. It's a
commonly known truth
that the only superpower
that exists in the word
today is Public Opinion:
politicians know that they
can no longer get away
with ignoring it

40. HARD AND SOFT POWER: A SUMMARY SO FAR
There is no clear line between hard and soft power: most ways of acting have elements
of both. However there is clearly softer and harder behaviour and all our actions exist
somewhere on the continuum between the two. Below is a theoretical and practical
description of that continuum and how it is played out in our world.
NON-DUAL BEING – ACTIVE BEING – RELATIONAL – CONFLCT TRANSCENDING – CONFLICT RESOLVING - SMART – MANIPULATIVE – FIXING – AUTHORITARIAN – VIOLENT - ALIENATED
NON-DUAL BEING ALIENATED BEING
ACTIVE BEING VIOLENT
RELATIONAL AUTHORITARIAN
CONFLICT TRANSCENDING FIXING
CONFLICT RESOLVING MANIPULATIVE
SMART

41. When I began writing about soft power 8 years ago (http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/indraadnan)
I used to get a handful of soft power news pieces in my inbox per week. Today I get five or six a day.
Although soft power is not a household term about in Britain, in other parts of the world it is common
parlance – particularly China and the Far East.

42. Part 3: SOFT POWER NATION

43. How different nations demonstrate soft power
Soft Power as
relationship
potential:
Japan
Immediately after WW2 Japan had the
image of a hard powered, inscrutable
nation.
Japan expended a lot of energy studying
the consumer desires of other nations and
came up with two formulas for creating
relationship potential: a) exactly
reproducing items that Western consumers
love at a fraction of the cost b) designing
and producing original beautiful technical
objects of desire such as mobile phones.
In a very small space of time Japan came
to be seen by the Western consumer as
cool with a remarkable spirit of service.

44. BRITISH SOFT POWER INSTITUTIONS
As a post imperial
nation, Britain has a
natural bent for soft
power without it ever
becoming a political
issue. The four top
British soft power
institutions are the
English Language, the
BBC, the Royal Family
and the British council.
Using these four
vehicles, Britain
remains hugely
influential throughout
the world despite its
size.

45. INDIA: SOFT POWER THROUGH ACTIVE BEING
India has been associated with
extreme poverty for decades and
as such, has not been perceived as
a global power befitting its size and
resources. The notable exception
has been the pulling power of its
'founding father' Gandhi which has
earned India a reputation for
spiritual wealth – good for tourism
but also for its diaspora.
More recently however, India has
been actively developing its soft
power, particularly in the form of its
film industry referred to as
Bollywood. It is no accident that a
growing awareness of India as a
global superpower has coincided
with the increasing popularity of
Indian films.

46. CHINA: SOFT POWER AND OVER-ACTIVE BEING?
China has a mixed record on soft power – a term that
has been actively adopted in its foreign policy since the
1980s. As the largest population (and fourth largest
land mass) in the world it has taken care to emerge
gently into the global community. Rather than
threatening surrounding countries with its army, it
actively promotes friendship through investment and
aid, particularly in Africa. Moreover it is attempting to
be better understood by building and promoting over
500 Confucious Institutes worldwide where the Chinese
culture and language is taught.
However, in its attempt to control its image abroad, it
has made a number of mistakes. African aid has often
been perceived as being too manipulative, importing
large numbers of Chinese labourers in to guarantee the
work if Africans refuse the conditions offered. In the
Confucious institutes it is not permitted to talk about
Tibet.
For many people Chin is still a land of human rights
abuse – Tiannamen Square remains uppermost in their
minds. The imprisonment of the artist Ai Wei Wei has
done little to change that view.

47. NORWAY: SOFTEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD
Simon Anholt, policy advisor and global
Expert on nation brands, devised the
MARRS model for predicting the soft power
of nations:
Morality - how good are you?
Aesthetics - how beautiful are you?
Relevance - how great is your impact?
Sophistication - how developed are you?
Strength - how strong are you?
This explains Norway's lasting effect.

48. Group Exercise 10
SOFT POWER STRATEGY
DEVELOP A SOFT POWER STRATEGY
USING ALL THE TOOLSOF SOFT POWER
FOR ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
SCOTLAND AS AN INDEPENDENT NATION
CHANGING THE DIRECTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS
CREATING A NEW GENDER BALANCE IN POLITICS

49. www.softpowernetwork.com / IA@softpowernetwork.com / twitter @indraadnan