Warm congratulations to the CEO Clubs Nigeria on this inaugural edition of the magazine. I feel privileged to be contributing to this publication from the UK. My contributions will be in the areas of commerce, media, technology, and the relationship between the UK, Europe, and Africa.
The UK and the West’s soft power assets: their role and function
The days are long gone when any nation’s power could be measured in the size of its military forces, or in traditional patterns of enforcement. New, softer, and smarter methods are now being combined with older approaches in order to secure and promote Western interests and purposes.
The guardianship and projection of much of the UK and the West soft power lie outside the control or reach of Government. But full recognition of what they possess in this field is, of course, the essential precondition both for preserving and strengthening their nation’s soft power potential and for avoiding damage to what has already been built up.
A country’s soft power originates from not only its culture and its political values but also its foreign policy. A country may derive soft power by impressing the publics overseas through its foreign policy when it is seen to be legitimate and to possess moral authority.
Evidence suggested that Governments have a key role in “living up to” the good political values, and implementing foreign policies that are viewed both as legitimate and as having moral authority. The Humanitarian Intervention Centre reported that a country’s soft power is derived largely from its foreign policies, “particularly where those policies reflect the perceived legitimacy of the state and are a manifestation of its moral authority.
To be attractive and influential, a country must “develop a clear moral stance on the future and be consistent rather than opportunistic”. When governments govern according to ethical, democratic, transparent, and accountable principles, soft power results.
