American Soft Power

Douglas McGray discusses different ways that being more cultivated could benefit the United States in his article, “Lost in America” in an attempt to convince education officials to incorporate more foreign language and history classes into their curriculums. In the article he explains the different way the United States has neglected foreign language, and how they can benefit from investing money and time into foreign language. Several examples are presented showing the actual importance of language diminishing in the United States education system. McGray wants the education officials to realize that foreign language should be valued more if the U.S. wants to have better access to overseas opportunities. In the article “Lost in America” by Douglas McGray the effective use of satire, irony,

The loss of languages within minority groups is a global phenomenon. It is an ongoing, fast moving process among indigenous groups in the United States. A vast majority of Native American vernaculars are nowadays only spoken by elders and as a growing numbers of children merely speak English in those modern days, the languages of their ancestors will soon be irretrievably lost as a result of language shift. According to Krauss (1996), only 20 of approximately 175 Native American languages have speakers across generations. What caused this loss of languages? Why? How can it be prevented?

Politically, a bigger U.S. with a greater economic and strategic power gives it a more prominent role in international

Hard power and soft power are important factors when it comes to our nation and its role throughout the world. The differences between hard and soft power offer people a better insight when it comes to political power in our nation. Hard power deals with the aspect of changing the actions of others through things such as coercion; whereas, soft power deals with attraction and shaping what others want from a different perspective (Smith-Windsor, 52). These versions of power are crucial when it comes to the theory of international relations. A hypothesis that alliances are founded on calculations of national interest and do not withstand a conflict of those interests is christened “theory” in the current language of political science (Aron,

In “Why No Official Tongue?” by Shirley Brice Heath I found many surprising and agreeable ideas involving the debate on whether or not the United States should have a national language. I personally believe that it is unnecessary for the United States to have an officially declared national language because most immigrants have a need and natural inclination to learn English in order to achieve success in America. This article provides historical proof from the colonial era that multilingualism does not threaten the English language.

America may be a relatively young nation, turning 240 years old this year, but in its short existence, it has had a powerful influence over world affairs, for better or worse. George Washington once said, “It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.” However, since his presidency, the United States’ position in the world has steered from a steely isolationist stance to one open and hungry for involvement in the matters of other countries. America craved land and power to bolster itself and utilized foreign policy to do so, shifting towards an imperialist position. However, this change in foreign policy resulted

The current overwhelming dominance of the unprecedented modern American empire in the realm of world politics generally agreed upon by experts and scholars around the world. There is little to refute the argument that there is any state that comes close to the strength of the Americans in a vast number of areas, most notably economically and militarily. Present debate among experts in the field of international relations revolves around whether the Americans can maintain their primacy for upcoming generations. Robert Dujarric and William Odom, both experienced and respected scholars of international relations, declare in their 2004 work, “America’s Inadvertent Empire,” that America is in a solid position to keep a tight hold on its place at the top. Vividly explaining America’s path to dominance while emphasizing the current state of domination, the authors effectively present the abilities of the empire while also illustrating the potential threats that could bring it down.

The British has welcomed the American entrance into the European front. Along with troops, the United States was backed by the american war machine, what almost seemed like an endless supply of industry, manufacturing, and the capital for both. This represented the power shift to the other side of the Atlantic. Britain’s financial resources were in a desperate situation, and their unquestionable international supremacy was going along with it. Going into the end of 1941, XXX reflected on this shift on the horizon. “‘Our War’ had become the world war, in which we were a tremendously important unit, but no longer in control of the decisions.”

McGray believes that with the expansion of foreign language education, America will be able to benefit in integral areas such as “new markets in Asia” and communication with international research partners. (353) With their arguments, the authors do not just argue how language education needs to be improved, but they also correlate it to being responsible for the shape of the nation’s

Whether this is with its unmatched military capabilities or economic strength, the global community is largely controlled and influenced by the actions America deploy. This itself is an exceptionally unique characteristic as no other country has ever had such an impact and influence on a global scale. Arguably, the world’s superpowers such as China and Russia also hold similar influence on the global stage but not to the same scale as America. For example, the 2007-2008 financial crisis in the United States also had an impact on most major developed economies, plunging them into deep recession (McKibbin and Stoeckel 2009, p.5). As the United States economy began to collapse, several other nations felt the negative pressure, often having to spend their own monies to stimulate their economy

Throughout American history, America has wielded its power worldwide through the use of different means, changing foreign and world affairs, and the course of history. From the late 19th century, America rose as a world power through the addition of new colonies like Puerto Rico, and its actions and influence in the world wars that allowed America and its allies to win both wars, and America to emerge as a superpower. America justified its rise as a world power from the Spanish-American War through World War II as necessary to oversee the world and transmit their ideas of democracy, and to defend and protect America’s interests.

Hard power uses both military and economic strength to force other nations into behaving in a desired manner. Soft power is focused on mutual cooperation, and does not use direct force (Kaufman

     Most important of all, perhaps, was the growing sense of anxiety which Americans felt toward Great Britain. Americans had always been suspicious of British activities in the western hemisphere, but inevitably this fear had grown as the United States began to define its strategic and economic interests in terms that extended beyond its own

Today, in the 21st century, English has become one of the most used languages around the world. It is so widely used that linguists have considered it to be the new ‘lingua franca’. Along with its language the United States is one of the most influential countries around the globe. There is no denying its presence in everything from international politics to entertainment. In fact, it is thought to be the only country that rivals the world 's once-great empires in terms of its global impact. In an article written by Mclean, she proclaims, “the U.S dominates world politics by providing the language, ideas, and institutional frameworks around which much of the world turns” (2). However, the United States did not just become an imperial power over night. From the middle of the 19th century till present time the U.S has been intervening in foreign lands. One country that has been immensely influenced by English colonization, to present day, is the Island of the Philippines. Whether it was consciously or not, the control of the Philippines by U.S after the Spanish-American War was a small step towards world power. A brief look into Philippines’ history shows how much different the island would’ve been without English rule. Although the Philippines were not pleased with the transfer of power over to America in the Treaty of Paris, the short 50 year rule proves to have had a major impact on Philippine culture, customs, and politics today.

In the early 1990s, Joseph Nye’s book Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature Of American Power ignited a huge discussion among society of the need to transition from America’s traditional use of hard power to something more benign which he termed soft power. Before looking at the two branches of power, we first define power as the ability to do something or act in a certain way. As Nye had pointed out, nations can wield power in two forms, soft and hard power. Soft power, as coined by Nye (1990) is defined as “the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion.” In contrast, hard power is seen as the use of military might or economic sanctions to coerce others into