01st September 2016 22:15:39 Hours
The former veteran diplomat and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, Dr Sarala Fernando in her contribution to the ongoing ‘Colombo Defence Seminar - 2016’ sessions at the BMICH on Thursday (1) drew parallels between the form of ‘soft power’ that worked in the history and those working at present. Her topic was ‘Soft Power and the Force of Attraction’.
In her brief presentation, Dr (Mrs) Sarala Fernando touched the question of economic, military and political ‘soft power’ as laid in the works of Kautilya’s Arthashastra. Here follows the full text of her speech in summarized form;
“Here in Asia, probably the best known of ancient treatises dealing with the art of combining military power and diplomatic persuasion in the pursuit of national self-interest are the works of Kautilya and Sun Tzu. Kautilya’s Arthashastra, the 4th Century BCE refers to a five prong model of options for a ruler to achieve his strategic objectives, - collusion, cooperation, alliance, acquisition or destruction- echoed in modern balance of power theory and strategies like bandwagoning and balancing, cooperation with security blocs, neutrality etc. Pragmatism and realism rather than idealism and ethics guided the thinking behind these early works. In Kautilya’s world, military power and economic power were the two main pillars of national security and any means were acceptable to achieve these ends, such as assassinations, spies and secret agents, duplicity in negotiations are freely discussed.
These are matters which today would be regarded as falling within covert operations and rarely discussed in public. So why is the world of today so very different? A main reason is the rise of the United Nations after the catastrophic events of World War 11 which placed emphasis on disarmament and the promotion of human rights. The very first resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly called for the elimination of all forms of WMD and the subsequent adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights set out standards which have influenced constitution making around the world. A huge body of international law and humanitarian law has come into existence under UN auspices which have a direct bearing on the conduct of war. Ethical choice has come to hold a place in strategic thinking and it is to such examples in history we are drawn today.
The Historic Attraction of Soft Power
Emperor Ashoka, probably the most famous of the Mauryan rulers, in the 3rd Century BCE, is said to have conquered virtually all of the Indian subcontinent except parts of what is today Tamil Nadu and Kerala. He is said to have repented and converted to Buddhism after the Kalinga war which resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties. Ashoka’s place in history is defined not by his territorial conquests but by his vision of upholding the Buddhist teachings as a cultural foundation for political unity and good governance. While Ashoka’s gift of the Teachings to Sri Lanka is recorded in our chronicles with exultation and praise, historians have suggested that this mission represented in fact a sophisticated strategy of peace making diplomacy with states on the outer circle of the Mauryan empire. Whatever the underlying motives, the outcome is clear-it has enabled a huge dividend in terms of friendship at the people to people level between Sri Lanka and India which has endured through many centuries. Thousands of pilgrims undertake the Buddhist circuit in India every year, and from time to time, sporadic attacks by fringe groups in Tamil Nadu set off shock waves in the Sri Lanka press and the flows diminish temporarily but in a short while they resume again, such is the enduring strength of the force of “attraction” through civilizational ideas, as a striking historic example of Soft Power.
Contemporary Debate on Soft Power in Foreign and Defence Policy So assuming Soft Power was known and practiced in the maintenance of national security in ancient times, what else is new today? We need to understand the value of the huge theoretical debate that has arisen on the underpinnings of Soft Power in the contemporary world, and the identifying of defining principles as they effect the making of both foreign policy and defence policy. Joseph Nye, the best known exponent of Soft Power, has set the discussions in the frame of the changing global power equations which has witnessed the rise-or return-of India and China as well as the communication revolution which has diffused power to many new stake holders. Nye speaks for example of avoiding the ‘Thucydides Trap’ referring, inter alia, to the fear mongering which is said to have triggered unending war between Athens and Sparta in classical times. He suggests basic principles such as credibility in strategic communications and the seeking out of win-win solutions in order to achieve the ultimate goal of “smart power”. These principles are visible in the Ashokan example, credible message, mutually beneficial partnership, long term, durable outcome.
The academic debate on Soft Power is taking place at a time when traditional Hard Power is under pressure in different ways. In some countries which have voluntary recruitment to the armed forces, enlistment is dropping sharply; elsewhere, popular sentiment is mobilizing for the reduction of military expenditure and release of those funds for education, health and social services; yet another factor is the imposition of a huge body of international law, effectively banning the use of many types of weopenry and imposing behavioural standards through the popularization of IHL. These challenges have resulted in enhancing the trend towards civil-military cooperation and have given impetus to the induction of new technologies such as robots and drones.
As a result, the technological divide is also deepening between countries, those at the more advanced end have moved on to address threats in the cyber domain, and cyber security partnerships are being forged for protection of critical infrastructure and combating of cybercrime. Major attitudinal changes have occurred since the World Information Summit in Tunis in 2005 for example, where countries imposing firewalls on the internet came in for much criticism; today, 10 years on, firewalls, monitoring data, filtering websites, social network surveillance have become acceptable and the line between censorship and security is blurring.
So in this background, the key questions today revolve not if but when, where and how Soft Power resources can be balanced with Hard Power to achieve optimum results.
The Nature of Soft Power and How It Relates to Hard Power
We need to look more closely at the relationship between Soft Power and Hard Power. Soft Power and Hard Power appear to be very different forces, even opposites in some ways. Military power is lethal, for the most part under the control of governments and its assets are quantifiable such that organizations all over the world keep count of military personnel, numbers of ships, tanks, aircraft etc. However Soft Power defies such analysis and can only be looked at through a qualitative lens, as it is user-specific, multi-facetted, depending on the purpose or idealogy and expertise which drives it. For all these reasons, its force of attraction is growing, not only with the democratization of the net but also as a result of the scattering of populations and the basic human needs of identity with race, religion, culture, while resident in alien surroundings.
There should be no mistake, Hard Power will always be required for deterrence and protection. If we accept traditional wisdom that confrontation and coercion through military means should remain as the option of last resort, how can we shape the preference of others through ‘attraction’ and achieve our security goals through such instruments as, inter alia, diplomacy, strategic communications, exchange partnerships, humanitarian assistance? This is where the theoretical analysis of country situations is useful to identify what works, what doesn't and where are the pitfalls. The problem is that experience in handling conflict around the world by balancing military power with Soft Power, is extremely varied. In some situations, negotiations and “carrots” have succeeded in making the resort to military means unnecessary. In other cases, like here in Sri Lanka, years of peace negotiations culminated in military force that brought a 30 year armed conflict to an end. However, academics now suggest that this outcome did not provide a lasting solution due in part to negative perceptions which arose by the creation of notions of “winners” and “losers”, necessitating the comprehensive programme of reconciliation and development that is on-going in Sri Lanka.
The Role of the United Nations
At a time when the armed conflict in Sri Lanka was brought to an end with the support of the majority of the population, a public debate has also arisen on the role of the United Nations. What is the balance between questions at the international level on humanitarian legality as against the restoration of normal law and order, the relief of a population free of bombs, explosions and assassinations? Is it not possible that a society, especially one with old civilizational roots, could heal itself? Some say the United Nations is at its best when dealing with global threats, climate change, pandemics, the spread of narcotic drugs where international networking and action are indispensable. For all the weaknesses of the UN, we in Sri Lanka came to appreciate international solidarity at the time of the tsunami that hit this country on Christmas Day 2004, one catastrophic event over few hours more deadly than thirty years of conflict, leaving over 30,000 dead, 88,000 houses demolished and over 25,000 houses partially destroyed, 212,223 families affected and some 834,000 displaced... However, it should also be noted that when international evaluation was made of the relief efforts after the Indian Ocean tsunami what was underlined as of critical importance in the first 24 or 48 hours, was the availability of domestic or local support mechanisms. In Sri Lanka, fortunately, time and time again, at a time of disaster, the people come forward spontaneously to help and give what they have while the temples, kovils, mosques and churches open their doors freely to the victims without discrimination.
The Dark Side of Soft Power
Balancing the demands of international standards and solidarity on the one hand and strengthening of domestic or local mechanisms for handling emergencies on the other hand-this duality reflects the complicated objectives security planners face today. Military cooperation appears easy to organize and is becoming systematized at the international level with joint exercises, confidence building measures, hot lines etc with regard to Indian Ocean security for example or UN peace keeping efforts. However Soft Power resources, on the other hand, defies such monitoring and coordination. Ironically, with the democratization of the internet and the bringing down of the cost of information, communications and computers and enhanced distribution through internet cafes and networks, the “dark side” of Soft Power is emerging as a major threat today. The propagandizing of violent extremism is raising threat levels around the world, where messages of hate can trigger a single or small cell of terrorists in far off places to commit violent actions, in much the same way as a drone can be set off from one continent and undertake a strike in another. Today we have a phenomenon of young people, even children, who appear quite normal and well-adjusted who could literally turn themselves into weapons destroying countless innocent civilians. As the Star Wars movie reminded us, even the best of the Jedi could be converted to the Dark Side.
Limitations of Soft Power
Unfortunately, there is little consensus on the way forward to counter the threat of violent extremism which are launched from such basic platforms as online magazines. Should these online magazines be banned or will doing so only magnify the threat levels? Soft Power counter measures are difficult to deploy and subject to contestation and misunderstanding while their outcomes are unpredictable. Preferred domestic options up to now such as education and integration are long term policies and in the meantime public objection to limits on individual privacy are complicating the efforts of intelligence professionals to detect early warning of attacks.
One other point is worth underlining that however much of Soft Power is deployed - even in the form of Public Diplomacy initiatives - they cannot cover what is inherently bad policy.
Aided by “whistle blowers” and “hackers”, there is increased public scrutiny today with regard to high level policy decisions such as that of going into a foreign war. This is seen in the commissioning of the Chilcot report which made a critical retrospective assessment of the decision making process with regard to the UK participation in the Iraq war. Evidence is mounting of a general discontent with foreign interventions even under UN auspices; it seems that these operations cannot be sustained over a long period of time without e Cr b k building resistance both in sending and receiving countries which no amount of Public Diplomacy or "Soft Power" initiatives can address. In the past, those at the receiving end of foreign military interventions were urging caution but now influential politicians from the Western world are joining the debate arguing that foreign military interventions may in fact be a direct cause of triggering responses inciting hate and violence in various parts of the world.
A final point is that those trained in Hard Power may find it difficult to adopt to the different nature and facets of Soft Power, a culture change may be required in training methodology. We in academia can set the scene and even walk with you the practitioners in the classroom or battlefield. Are you ready for this challenge? I hope that this conference will be useful, for sharing of experience, identifying good practices and renewing intelligence cooperation networks for which there is no substitute.”
