AFutureforEUForeignPolicy：IsSoftPowerEnough？

【Abstrac】As a political and economic union of states in Europe， EU has gradually enhanced its soft power in the process of enlargement， and has played an important role in foreign policy making. However， throughout the globalization of world politics， is soft power enough for EU foreign policy？

【Key words】soft power； hard power； foreign policy making； Interdependence Theory

1. Introduction

According to Cameron （1999：115）， the European Union （EU） was an economic giant but a political dwarf decades ago. Its time for the Union to seriously consider a future for its foreign policy， and soft power will play an increasingly important role in the course. This essay first explores the contributed factors of the growing importance of soft power， and then analyzes the use of soft power in major issue-areas of EU foreign policy. Afterwards， it attempts to introduce Interdependence theory to explain the great weight of soft power. Finally， it poses the question “is soft power enough for future EU foreign policy”， and gives the corresponding answer.

2. The Growing Importance of Soft Power

The term ‘soft power， coined by Joseph Nye， refers to the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion or inducement （Keohane and Nye， 1998）. He indicates that soft power derives from intangible power resources like culture， ideology and influence on international institutions. Nye （1990：267） poses the spectrum of behaviors and some corresponding resources as follows：

hard power soft power

command coercion inducement agenda-setting attraction co-opt

force， sanctions payments， bribes institutions values， culture， policies

As is shown in the table， hard power consists of command， coercion and inducement in the form of force， sanctions， payments and bribes， while soft power involves agenda-setting， attraction and co-option arising from institutions， values， culture and policies. In a world of increasing interdependence， the use of power tends to be less coercive and less tangible， and soft co-optive power is carrying greater weight than hard command power on world politics stage. A wide range of factors may contribute to this social phenomenon.

First of all， although military force is still important， economic， environmental， and technological issues should catch more eyes. Secondly， at present， military power is more difficult to employ because of the globally increased communication， social mobilization and power diffusion. Thirdly， if a state can make its power soft and legitimate， it may achieve goals with less expenditure and better reputation. Fourthly， soft power is deeply rooted throughout history， and its influence is very tremendous and permanent. Last but not least， concerning the EU foreign policy， the soft power is increasing in importance largely because the public opinion as well as the Unions special relationship with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization （NATO）， particularly the new partnership with America.endprint

3. The Use of Soft Power in the Issue-areas of EU Foreign Policy

With regard to EU foreign policy， the most important issue-areas are security and defence， external trade， development aid and enlargement. Traditionally， security policy means military strategy and practice. In the EU， it involves much more issues：political stability， reduction of crime， control of illegal trade， migration control， environmental protection， etc. Sometimes， soft power is a more effective measure to achieve goals.

In EUs external trade， soft power still carries a lot of weight. Smith （2002：21） holds that， from the banana problem between the EU and ACP （African， Caribbean and Pacific） countries， EUs trade decisions are more than economic and can involve EU in diplomatic efforts to avoid conflict.

In terms of development aid， it is a benign foreign policy of the developed EU that provides technical assistance for developing countries and areas to solve social problems without shaking their basic social structure.

As for the EU enlargement， it is a key foreign policy tool towards non-members， which ensures the stability of the whole Union. First and foremost， it improves the border security because the previous borders become the internal part of the Union after the accession of new member states. Secondly， the enlargement opens the door for more member states and largely reduces the flow of immigration， particularly illegal immigration. Thirdly， the new participants get much more preferences in a common EU market， which brings them rapid economic growth and comparatively stable social environment. Finally， the enlargement will also be good for founding members， because it will reduce the labor cost and enhance their competitiveness in the global market. In a word， enlargement is proved to be useful as an instrument of EU foreign policy and a good example of the employment of soft power.

4. Theoretical Explanations：Interdependence Theory

Interdependence theorists hold that the state is not a unitary actor in international relations；non-state actors are very important entities that deserve more attention. Closeness is the key to all relationships：the countries or international actors that are likely to gain soft power are those closest to global norms of liberalism， pluralism， and autonomy；and those whose credibility is enhanced by their domestic and international performance. EU is far more than a state actor on world politics stage：the steady European integration leads to the emergence of EU as a global power.endprint

Besides， Interdependence theorists stress that economic and social issues tend to lie in the forefront of foreign policy debates， and various instruments such as cultural， ideological and institutional power rather than military power will be employed. EU foreign policy is accordance with the theory to a large extent. It tends to gradually cut the weight of military force in world politics. Among most industrialized countries of the Union， the perceived margin of safety has broadened：fears of attack in general have declined， and fears of attacks by one another are virtually nonexistent. Essentially， apart from the utilization of hard power， there are a vast variety of ‘soft instruments available for EU foreign policy：political diplomacy， trade preferences， development aid， the negotiation and conclusion of international agreements， etc.

5. The Future of EU Foreign Policy：Only Soft Power？

From the above， one can see the necessity and significance of using soft power in EU foreign policy. Now that soft power is so powerful， is it sufficient for the future EU foreign policy？

Actually， when emphasizing the importance of soft power in EU foreign policy， one cannot ignore the necessary existence and appropriate use of hard power. Strong hard power can lay a solid foundation for better employment of soft power. If states or international organizations can properly use hard power when necessary， they will find it may solve some problems that soft power cannot figure out.

Hard power， such as military army， is more traditionally adopted for defence and deterrence， to protect nations from external threats and internal conflicts. A country without the holding of hard power will put itself into security dilemma， and EU also cannot live without hard power. It is a profound lesson from the case of former Yugoslavia that if an international actor cannot back up its diplomacy with military power， it will suffer from a lack of credibility and influence， and even worse， it may not be able to protect itself from external or internal conflicts. Beyond question， it is the existing military power that keeps the Union away from large-scale conflicts and leaves the room for economic growth and employment of soft power. Thus， it is necessary for EU to maintain the existence of hard power for its security. As the main provider of ‘soft security， EU is already performing an important stabilizing function but it will also have to develop a ‘hard security component if it is to act credibly on the world stage （Cameron， 1999：115）.endprint

Now， a future for EU foreign policy will be assumed like this：the increasing employment of soft power with the appropriate assistance of hard power. Since the Union has done quite well in agenda-setting， policy-making， political dialogue， and other instruments of soft power， it should pay more attention to the power of culture.

6. Conclusion

Looking into the application of soft power in specific issue-areas of EU foreign policy and relevant theoretical explanations， one can recognize its increasing importance. However， no one can deny the necessary existence of hard power， particularly military force， at least for security and defense. In fact， although soft power tends to carry greater weight than hard power in EU foreign policy and even on the global politics stage， the Union should not ignore the indispensable holding of hard power to protect itself from possible external invasion or internal conflicts and to lay a solid foundation for more effective employment of soft power. To sum up， soft power will play a major part in the future EU foreign policy， but it is not sufficient for the complex social environment. In order to ensure the attractiveness and effectiveness of soft power， the Union should leave some room for the hard power.

References：

[1]Baylis，J.and Smith，S.（eds.）（2005）The Globalization of World Politics：An Introduction to International Relations，Oxford：Oxford University Press.

[2]Cameron，F(xiàn).（1999）The Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union：Past，Present and Future，Sheffield：Sheffield Academic Press LTD.

[3]Hill，C.（2003）The Changing Politics of Foreign Policy，New York：Palgrave Macmillan.

[4]Keohane，R.O.& Nye，J.S.（1998）‘Power and Interdependence in the Information Age，F(xiàn)oreign Affairs，Vol.77 No.5，Council on Foreign Relations.

[5]Nye，J.S.（1990）Bound to Lead：The Changing Nature of American Power，New York：Basic Books.

[6]Smith，H.（2002）European Union Foreign Policy：What it Is and What it Does，London：Pluto Press.

[7]Smith，M.E.（2004）Europes Foreign and Security Policy：The Institutionalization of Cooperation，Cambridge：Cambridge University Press.

作者簡(jiǎn)介：李琴（1983.9-），女，漢族，湖北大悟人，碩士研究生，講師，研究方向：當(dāng)代歐洲研究及英語(yǔ)教學(xué)。endprint