Britain’s Persuaders Soft Power in a Hard World

Helen Ramscar, "Britain’s Persuaders: Soft Power in a Hard World"
English | ISBN: 0755634276 | 2021 | 264 pages | EPUB | 824 KB
‘Soft power’ is an oft-used term and commands an instinctive understanding among journalists and casual observers, who mostly interpret it as ‘diplomatic’ or somehow ‘persuasive’. ‘Hard power’ is seen, by contrast, as something more tangible and usually military. But this is a superficial appreciation of a more subtle concept – and one key to Britain’s future on the international stage. Britain’s Persuaders is a deep exploration of this phenomenon, using new research into the instruments of soft power evident in British society and most relevant to the 2020s. Some, like the British Council or the BBC World Service, are explicitly intended to generate soft power in accordance with governmental intentions; but rather more, like the entertainment industries, sport, professional regulatory bodies, hospitality industries or education sectors have more penetrating soft power effects even as they pursue their own independent or commercial rationales.