The book Soft and Great Powers Competition is highlighting history to predict the future of global order. The book collectively analyses the geopolitical competition, which not only challenges America’s global preeminence in the world but also serves as a catalyst for the great power rivalry among the US, China, and Russia. The author of the book Joseph Nye is a political scientist. According to him, the two major wars, WW1 and WW2, had changed the great power from Britain to the US. The emerging powers always try to challenge the dominated powers, i.e., China is challenging the hegemony of the US in the contemporary era.
Moreover, he defines power as the capability of a nation to dominate others. He also defines that power has two types, i.e., soft power and hard power. He emphasized soft power, which includes economy, culture, and technology. The soft power is a more attractive approach than the hard power. As granting economic assistance to a nation will create a good gesture, then giving weapons to them. It may often be the case that it is not only whose army wins but also whose story wins. For that reason, the great powers are struggling for the soft power in the world.
Though the US is creating its soft image in the world through Harvard, Hollywood, and Confucius institutions like the IMF and WTO, which are promoting the narratives of the US. Although in the 21st century there is fluctuation in the US’s power, especially 2003 is known as an anti-American year. But still, the US has the softest power than the rest of the world.
The author has mentioned that China, as an emerging great power, aims to reduce the fear and tendency to balance power that might otherwise grow among its members. (p22). China is very interested in increasing its soft power. Hu Jintao told the 17th Party of Congress that China needs to invest in its soft power; they are making major efforts, spending billions of dollars on Confucius institutes and international broadcasting (p. 31). China’s low military spending reflects a clear-cut policy for the hard power over soft power (p. 90).
The present century might see the steadiness of American preeminence, but the sources of power in world politics are likely to undergo major changes. Politics suggest that it will be more difficult in the future for any great power to control the political environment (p. 14). As After the collapse of the USSR, the US was the sole superpower, but that was not the last. Now increased influence from China has altered the power shift from the US to China. Hennery Kissinger, in his speech in 1975, said, “We are entering a new era”. (p. 14). The shift is unstoppable from west to east. As Goldman Sachs, the investment company, has predicted, if China and the US grow at their current rates, then the Chinese economy will be equal to the size of the US economy in 2027. In 2009, China was proud of its success in managing the world recession with a high rate of economic growth. Many Chinese conclude that this growth represents a shift of the world in balance of power, and the United States was in decline (p. 30). China is challenging the hegemony of the US (p. 105). According to the author, China will surpass the US hegemony, but it will take more than 2 to 3 decades.
Furthermore, the author assesses the distribution of resources among various actors with each domain. He also mentions that the world is neither unipolar nor multipolar or chaotic. It runs in all three orders at the same time (p32). The US is adopting the hegemony in international organizations such as the WTO and IMF. On the other hand China, the United States, Japan, and others will also face a new set of transnational challenges, such as climate change, terrorism, and pandemics. All these issues are going to increase in the future. It requires cooperation in the world because the world’s problems cannot be solved by any one country alone (p. 40).
Though “Joseph Nye also has highlighted that a nation must have to address the internal issues like political instability, corruption, and economic decline. Economic development is essential for maintaining the status of great power. He also said that weakness in any of the above factors can diminish the status of a nation as a great power. i.e., China is facing the issue of Taiwan.
Moreover, the author quotes that the US and China are entering a new era of their relations, but the talk of a new cold war is misleading. During the cold war, the US and the soviet union targeted ten thousand nuclear weapons with each other and had virtually no trade or cultural ties. In contrast, the annual trade of Sino-America is half a trillion dollars, and more than 350,000 Chinese students are pursuing their education there. Besides this, three million Chinese tourist visit the US each year. A better description of today’s bilateral relationship is “cooperative rivalry” rather than the revival of the cold war. (p171).
In the recent meeting of the US, President Biden warned china that it is seriously trying to become the world’s most significant power. Moreover, he said that the autocratic will not win in the future; the rivalry with china could be dangerous, but it can be changed into healthy competition. China is rapidly growing in economy, but it also has significant weaknesses in its policies. While the US has important long-term power advantages of geography. It is surrounded by oceans and friendly neighbors. Whereas china has territorial disputes with India, japan, and Vietnam. In the result, the US takes advantage in its net energy export. China also depends on oil imports and transpot across the Indian Ocean, where the US maintains a significant naval presence. (p182)
The contemporary international geopolitical is marred with great power competition. The three major powers US, China and Russia are competing in political, cultural, economic and technological domains, which creates and it leading to the escalation these domain can have serious consequences for world peace and stability. Therefore, the great powers competition is leading to the instability in the world. The author has given the example of real life for understanding world politics. He clearly argues that the competition in the great powers is inevitable, but it should not be changed into escalation or the war. China and the US face transitional challenges that are impossible to resolve without the cooperation of each other. i.e., climate change and rising sea level obey the laws of physics not the politics. Borders become more porous; everything from drugs to infectious diseases is fungible, so the great powers will have to cooperate with each other as they can cope with these emerging threats. The book contributes to the high rank in international relations. The book is fruitful for understanding the future of the global order in the era of the great powers competition.
The Author JOSEPH NYE in his book the soft and great powers competition defines the narrative of the US rather than being neutral. He has criticized china. He could not suggest the proper solution of the emerging conflicts in the great powers in the form of cooperative rivalry.
