Outside the halls of the United Nations and the G-20 summit in New Delhi, it’s been a busy month of diplomacy. Earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden wrapped up a quick trip to Hanoi, where he met with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong, while Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed the leaders of Venezuela, Cambodia, and Zambia to Beijing. This flurry of activity is not without purpose; in our strategic competition with China, photo ops, influence in multilateral institutions, and bilateral relationships have become just as important as ballistic missiles and aircraft carriers. Washington is in a soft power race—and it needs to win.
Outside the halls of the United Nations and the G-20 summit in New Delhi, it’s been a busy month of diplomacy. Earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden wrapped up a quick trip to Hanoi, where he met with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong, while Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed the leaders of Venezuela, Cambodia, and Zambia to Beijing. This flurry of activity is not without purpose; in our strategic competition with China, photo ops, influence in multilateral institutions, and bilateral relationships have become just as important as ballistic missiles and aircraft carriers. Washington is in a soft power race—and it needs to win.
Soft power, a concept first popularized by Joseph S. Nye Jr. in Foreign Policy in 1990, describes the ability to exert influence through culture, values, and foreign policy—and it touches every part of U.S.-China competition. As the ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), I’ve seen the importance of improving and exercising our soft power, a common refrain in every hearing and briefing. We can win a soft-power competition through three key actions: by making soft power a key part of pursuing our strategic interests, protecting critical funding from partisan politics, and focusing…
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