Written evidence Inquiry on Soft Power, UK Influence

8/14/2019 Written evidence Inquiry on Soft Power, UK Influence

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INTRODUCTION

1. International Alert welcomes this inquiry, which comes in the wake of fundamental changesby Her Majestys Government (HMG) since 2010 to the means and ends to which it exerts

influence in pursuit of building stability overseas. These priorities are defined by theBuilding Stability Overseas Strategy (BSOS) which is now a central tenet of UK development

and foreign policy and enjoys cross party support.

2. This submission concentrates exclusively on the most effective ways in which the UK couldor should exercise soft power in pursuit of that policy agenda. There is no single accepted

definition of soft power but these offerings by Joseph Nye and Robert Keohane (2004) would

command general agreement. For them, soft power is the ability:

to get desired outcomes because others want what you want; to achieve goals through attraction rather than coercion; convincing others to follow or getting them to agree to norms or

instituitions that produce the desired behaviour.

It tends to rest on

the appeal of ones ideas or culture or the ability to set the agenda throughstandards and institutions that shape the preferences of others;

the persuasiveness of the free information that an actor seeks to transmit.For Nye and Keohane, scholars in the realist tradition of international relations, thefundamental argument for soft power is that it works and therefore obviates the need to

resort to costly military and economic instruments to achieve policy goals.

3. This submission looks at three instruments of soft power available to the UK which draw onthe legitimacy of power, free information and international institutions. They are:

intergovernmental leadership, a free and independent media and credibility by example. It

applies them to the Governments policy priorities for conflict affected and fragile states and

suggests a recommendation for the Committee at the end of each.

4.

BSOS accepts that the poorest and most vulnerable people in the World are those living inconflict affected and fragile states (CAFS). These states have made least progress since the

Committee on Soft Power & the UKs Influence

International Alert Written Submission October 2013


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Millennium Declaration of 2000 and are widely predicted to continue on this path should

there be no significant change in the global approach to international development (Kaplan,

2012). This is not only a failure of development with dire human consequences for those

concerned but also represents a clear security concern to the UK and other countries across

the world, of which the attack on the Nairobi Westgate Centre was the most recent

example.

5. The World Development Report of 2011 (WDR2011) found that some 1.5 billion people livein countries affected by repeated cycles of political and criminal violence causing human

misery and disrupting development to the extent that almost no MDGs have been met in

any fragile state. It argues that to break these cycles, it is crucial to strengthen legitimate

national institutions and governance in order to provide citizen security, justice and jobsas

well as alleviating the international stresses that increase the risks of violent conflict.

6. To address this, the UK needs to contribute to normative change at global and local level.Specifically, it needs to address the social and political factors that drive violent conflict,

perpetuate widespread abuses and prevent the poorest countries from achieving

sustainable growth. These are underpinned by a range of social and normative barriers

preventing citizens from engaging and participating meaningfully with the governance of

their countries.

7. By definition, addressing these issues requires the exercise of soft, rather than hard, power.8. As the Committee recognises in its framing questions to this Inquiry, the UK cannot project

norms independently, or exclusively with its traditional allies, without being vulnerable to

charges of neo-colonialism from governments and others whose current policies and

practices are challenged. It must thus work in partnership, in many cases new partnerships,

with actors from a range of governments, civil society coalitions and multilateral institutions

INSTRUMENTS OF SOFT POWER

9. The UK can draw on at least three sources of influence in pursuit of the need for changeoutlined above. They are inter-governmental leadership; culture and media; and long term

demonstrative leadership.

INTER-GOVERNMENTAL LEADERSHIP

10.The UK has demonstrably engaged in inter-governmental leadership to significant effect inthe past. Examples include the Gleneagles Summit of 2005 in which UK leadership resulted

in substantial agreements on climate change (associating leaders from Brazil, China, India,

Mexico and South Africa) and reducing poverty in Africa (with seven African presidents

taking part). Without sustained British perseverance and exercise of soft power these

outcomes would have been highly unlikely (Bayne, 2005).


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11.The current Foreign Secretary is himself currently pursuing an amendment to the GenevaConvention with the addition of a protocol explicitly classifying sexual violence as a grave

violation of the convention, with 134 UN states currently confirmed to be attending a

conference to adopt a declaration to this end1. That is two thirds of all UN States and as such

illustrates the significance and capacity of UK intergovernmental leadership.

12.More quietly, in the G8 context, the UK has joined with Germany in leading a shift ofemphasis into recognising the linkages between the pressures of climate change, security

risk and poverty and beginning to develop the first elements of an internationally

coordinated response to these dangerous connections (Harris 2012).

13.There are other inter-governmental partnerships in which the UK is a leading player, such asthe Open Government Partnership (OGP), which consists of 60 States and which met

recently in London. The OGP agenda outlined by the Prime Minister, if enacted fully on the

ground, would radically transform the barriers detailed above. They are2:

Open Data: Radically opening up government data for greater accountability, public

service improvement and economic growth;

Government Integrity: fighting corruption and strengthening democracy through

transparent government;

Fiscal Transparency: helping citizens to follow the money;

Empowering Citizens: transforming the relationship between citizens and

governments, and;

Natural Resource Transparency: ensuring natural resources and extractive revenues

are used for public benefit

14.HMG should continue on this path by scaling up its investment in exercising soft power insupport of redefining international normative and legal frameworks in support of building

stability overseas.

CULTURE AND MEDIA

15.The UK is a consolidated and well established democracy which enjoys widespread respectfor its democratic institutions. It also benefits from the English language and mass appeal of

the British media, particularly the BBC World Service in the context of developing nations.

The BBC World Service and BBC more generally, is therefore a key basis of soft power.

16.Critically, however, this effect does not arise because the Service is a mouthpiece for Britishpolicy; in fact, it arises precisely because it is not. It is a critical and independent source of

1Speech by Foreign Secretary William Hague at the War Child 20th Anniversary Policy Forum in London on 23 October 2013 (accessed at

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/protecting-children-in-conflict)2Speech by the Prime Minister David Cameron at the OGP London Summit, 31 October 2013 http://www.opengovpartnership.org/get-

involved/london-summit-2013
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/protecting-children-in-conflicthttps://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/protecting-children-in-conflicthttp://www.opengovpartnership.org/get-involved/london-summit-2013http://www.opengovpartnership.org/get-involved/london-summit-2013http://www.opengovpartnership.org/get-involved/london-summit-2013http://www.opengovpartnership.org/get-involved/london-summit-2013http://www.opengovpartnership.org/get-involved/london-summit-2013https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/protecting-children-in-conflict


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credible information accessed by populations who do not have alternative sources of

independent information. It is thus an asymmetrical source of soft power. Returning to Nye

& Keohane, on the importance of free information in building credibility through free

information as a basis for soft power:

credibility is the crucial resource, and asymmetrical credibility is a key source of

power. Establishing credibility means developing a reputation for providing correct

information, even when it may reflect badly on the information providers own

country. The BBC, for example, has earned a reputation for credibility, while state-

controlled radio stations in Baghdad, Beijing and Havana have not.(Nye, Keohane,

2004)

17.British soft power, paradoxically, is therefore gained by a unique source of news from aBritish perspective that is frequently critical of the UK.

18. It is thus disturbing that the Government has significantly cut the BBC World Service since2010, already resulting in a loss of audience of around 14 million and the cancellation of five

language services. There have been four funding cuts in four years, with each presented as a

one off cut by Government, with the latest involving a reduction of 2.22 million in 20133.

19.Applying Nye & Keohanes analysis of the centrality of free and credible information togenerating soft power, therefore, International Alert believes these cuts to be misguidedand recommends that the Committee challenges the Government to justify its recent and

future strategy towards the BBC World Service.

CREDIBILITY BY EXAMPLE

20.The UK has gained significant credibility by being among the first to reach internationallydefined targets for international development, such as the commitment to spend 0.7% GDP

on Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). It has hosted initiatives such as the Open

Government Partnership. It is supporting new and equitable partnerships with governments

in conflict affected situations, such as the New Deal for Engagement with Fragile States (New

Deal), and is one of the leading financial and practical supporters of the UN Peacebuilding

Fund. As a result the UK is able to utilise its soft power in pursuit of the foreign policy agenda

represented by BSOS. One consequence of this and a way of judging its success can be seen

in the choice of UK Prime Minister to co-chair the recent High Level Panel of Eminent

Persons on the Post 2015 Development Agenda, alongside the leaders of Indonesia and

Liberia.

21.The UK has also demonstrably led the world in the provision of Open Government Data(OGD), increasing transparency and by so doing enabling active citizens and civil society to

hold decision makers to account. OGD aims, by the provision of usable data, to achieve

3http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22853598
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impact on government efficiency, transparency, accountability, environmental sustainability,

inclusion of marginalised groups, economic growth and supporting entrepreneurs. This is a

practical agenda which builds on the insight of WDR11. The UK came top of 77 nations

currently committed to pursuing OGD programmes in the latest Open Data Barometer

index4.

22.This arguably results in the UK gaining more influence through soft power means than anydeployment or the threat of deployment of hard power. Soft power is entirely separate and

not dependent on hard power, as some political scientists have claimed. Nye & Keohane

make the same observation in relation to other states who have engaged in similar

leadership and thus gained credibility and soft power which bears little relation to their

capacity to project hard power:

Canada, Sweden and the Netherlands have more influence than some other states

with equivalent economic or military capabilities. (Nye, Keohane, 2004)

23.The Government should utilise the political capital it has generated to challenge othergovernments to follow suit. For example while the US comes second after the UK in the

Open Data Barometer overall, it scores poorly in the provision of company and land

registration. Encouraging governments of wealthy countries towards greater transparency

could be an important step towards reducing global tax evasion, another important HMG

priority. To the same end, the Government should also prioritise supporting local civil society

in being able to effectively use such data to hold those in power to account.

CONCLUSIONS

24.The UK Government is well placed to exercise significant soft power, relative to its peers. Ithas already demonstrated this, notably on changing norms and practices on good

governance, sexual violence and open data. It benefits both from its active leadership on

such agendas, in addition to the wider influence of the BBC World Service and historic links

across the globe.

25. It has not yet, however, realised the full potential of this power and does not appear to takea systematic approach to doing so, as can be seen by short termism in cutting the reach of

the BBC World Service.

26.The Government must therefore marshal its influence through the use of itsintergovernmental leadership, the BBC World Service and credibility by example, and in so

doing realise the combined potential of the soft power the government enjoys but whose

value it is not yet fully utilising.

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REFERENCES

BAYNE, N - Overcoming Evil with Good: Impressions of the Gleneagles Summit, G8 InformationCentre, University of Toronto, 18 July 2005 (accessed at

http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/evaluations/2005gleneagles/bayne2005-0718.html)

CLARK, H(Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme: UNDP) Speechdelivered to the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa Conference, Dakar, Senegal, 23 July 2012.:

more politically aware populations have also led to improvements in the accountability

and responsiveness of a number of African governments. That, in turn, helps make

government policies more effective and inclusive

CLARK, JGetting There: Women in Political OfficeAnnals of the American Academy of Politicaland Social ScienceVol. 515, American Feminism: New Issues for a Mature Movement (May,

1991), pp. 63-76

GOETZ, AM; HASSIM, S - No Shortcuts to Power: African Women in Politics and Policy Making,Zed Books, 2003

KAPLAN, S - Inequality, Fragile States, and the New MDGs, Fragile States Resource Centre, April16 2012

HARRIS, K -Climate change in UK security policy -implications for development assistance?Working Paper 342, Overseas Development Institute, 2012

NYE, J; KEOHANE,RThe Nature of Power, Foreign Affairs.Vol. 77, No. 5 (Sep. - Oct., 1998), pp.81-94

WORLD BANKWorld Development Report 2011 WORLD BANKGlobal Monitoring Report 2013Written by Chris Underwood

Written evidence Inquiry on Soft Power, UK Influence

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