Britain's Persuaders: Soft Power in a Hard World

by Michael Clarke, Helen Ramscar

'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.

This book conducts an up-to-date 'audit' of all Britain's principal sources of soft power. Situating its analysis within the current understanding of the 'smart power' of nation states – that desire to employ the full spectrum of policy instruments and national characteristics to achieve policy outcomes, specifically in the context of 'Brexit Britain' where soft power status is certain to loom larger during the 2020s.

264 pages, Hardcover

Published November 18, 2021

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: Michael Clarke


Michael Clarke is a British academic who specialises in defence studies.
Professor Clarke was Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) from 2007 to 2015 when he retired from that role. Until 2001 he was Deputy Vice-Principal and Director for Research Development at King’s College London, where he remains a Visiting Professor of Defence Studies. From 1990 to 2001 he was the founding Director of the Centre for Defence Studies at King’s. He was appointed Professor in 1995. He is now a Fellow of King’s College London and of the Universities of Aberystwyth and of Exeter, where he is also Associate Director of the Strategic Studies Institute.

He has previously taught at the Universities of Aberystwyth, Manchester and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and also at the University of New Brunswick and the Open University. He has been a Guest Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington DC, and a Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London.

He has been a specialist adviser to the House of Commons Defence Committee since 1997, having served previously with the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee 1995-6, and the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Bribery in 2009. In 2004 he was appointed as the UK’s member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. In 2009 he was appointed to the Prime Minister’s National Security Forum and in 2010 to the Chief of Defence Staff’s Strategic Advisory Group. He also served on the Strategic Advisory Panel on Defence for UK Trade and Industry and in 2014 was Chairman of the Defence Communications Advisory panel for the Ministry of Defence.

In March 2014 he was appointed by the Deputy Prime Minister to chair an Independent Surveillance Review at RUSI which reported in 2015. That report, A Democratic Licence to Operate: The Report of the Independent Surveillance Review, was published as part of the public discussion around the Investigatory Powers Bill, due to be enacted into law by December 2016.

In January 2016 he was appointed a specialist adviser to the Joint National Committee on Security Strategy for the period of the current Parliament.


source: Royal United Services Institute

Reviews

[Human Entity · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book worth 2.5 - 3 stars. Most of the data is very repetitive and could fit inside 50-60 pages. Trumpets standards British agenda/propaganda with an air of arrogance about British "values". The author should read up on the trail of bloodshed and chaos the British sowed from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh to Israel - Palestine and then introspect on British "values" and diplomacy.

The author quotes anti Modi writers and seems to have an anti India agenda. It seems he cannot stomach the success of a rising and vibrant India and like BBC seems to air concerns about Indian democracy which most Indians do not share with him. He should read up on the approval ratings of Modi to appreciate what he has done and why he has never lost an election.

Overall a decent book that many people from non British countries can use to understand their own countries' soft power areas and how to use them.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thought provoking read, raising many interesting concepts and going into useful, but not excessive, detail on the complex array of institutions and mechanisms by which soft power is exercised.

The book (1st edition) however is let down by some factual errors and mistakes, which should have been picked up by a conscientious editor.