“Bold but humble” – Resetting Britain’s soft power

Even before the landslide electoral win of the UK’s Labour Party, there had been discussion about the need for the UK to build up its soft power in an increasingly fragmented world.

Growing discussion over a soft power re-set had been fuelled by a number of global developments: the unravelling of multilateralism, the growth of right-wing political groups and the prospect of a potentially isolationist United States.

The 4 July UK general election and the 17 July delivery of the King’s Speech, setting out the priorities of the Keir Starmer government, have helped to deepen the desire for discussion over how the UK can build up its soft power.

One event was a 23 July conference on The Future of UK Soft Power – International Strategy and Diplomacy, organised by the Foreign Office executive agency for strategic discussion, Wilton Park, and the London School of Economics, launching a series on the subject.

“This is an important moment for UK soft power,” Peter Jones, Project Head of LSE Ideas and moderator of the panel discussion said, referring to the Labour Party manifesto promise to enhance soft power and work with diaspora communities in the UK.

“The UK must be bold, but it must be humble,” said panellist Evie Aspinall, the Director of the British Foreign Policy Group.

Commonwealth Global Challenges: Multilateralism and soft power in an age of nationalism, conflict and division – A 2023 Round Table discussion
Britain’s place in the contemporary world – 2015

The decline

Much of the renewed enthusiasm for building up the UK’s soft power stems from the Labour Party’s pre-election promises. The party’s manifesto said in its Britain reconnected: Strengthening diplomacy section that: ‘Our diplomatic leadership is bolstered by the soft power of our world-leading cultural institutions. Rather than running these institutions down, we will work across government to bring leading creative and cultural institutions together to increase the UK’s international clout. And we will work with our proud diaspora communities to enhance our cultural links across the world.’

The LSE/ Wilton Park session referred to the incoming government’s commitment and to two external reports on soft power. The reports outlined the decline in British soft power, reduced funding of soft power assets and the growing use of soft power by other countries – from China and India to South Korea.

A July 2024 British Council report on Soft Power at a Turning Point: – A competitive analysis stated: ‘In 2024, countries are increasingly prioritising national interests over multilateralism and the global order. There is more alignment of soft power activities with foreign and economic policy goals, and less emphasis on shared global challenges.’

The 2024 State of the Arts review indicated that the UK had one of the lowest spending levels on culture in Europe in recent years.

Evie Aspinall said that the UK had gained soft power globally through a range of areas from the BBC World Service to the Premier League and from its academic institutions to overseas aid.

“It isn’t a given that we will succeed because we have some cultural assets,” said Mona Lotten, Head of Soft Power Research and Insight at the British Council. She said that the UK still had its institutions with international reputations. However, she said that long-term thinking and strategy should not be underestimated in a world in which countries increasingly prioritised national interests over international considerations.

Helen Jones, the Director of Global Engagement at the Science Museum Group, provided examples of successful science partnerships with India and China which had allowed the UK to play “the long game” in terms of the sharing of assets and expertise.

“Speak the language”

Panellists continually warned against the heavy-handed use of soft power assets and a lack of joined-up strategy in the UK over its soft power offer. They provided examples of academic excellence which did not dovetail into visas for foreign graduates and the use of aid for the donor’s objectives, rather than listening to the receiving country. The British Council’s Mona Lotten said that the UK needed to fund areas that mattered to the country it was dealing with – to “protect what matters to them”.

“Try to do it (use soft power) too overtly and you will kill it,” said Helen Jones.

In the Q&A session, guests from the Foreign, Commonwealth and International Development Office (FCDO), academics, business representatives and others questioned whether the UK knew what it wanted to do with soft power in a world where countries in the Middle East and elsewhere knew exactly what they wanted to use their assets for. Comments from the floor also questioned the lack of a sense of urgency on the part of the British. A number of suggestions were put forward for the framework of a soft power strategic review. Others pointed to the mostly untapped power of various diasporas based in the UK.

A number of questions dealt with whether the UK had defined what it stands for in the modern world and how it could get that message out. The role of big tech was also discussed as multinational corporations, such as Microsoft and Google, achieved their commercial goals, with their soft power gains accruing by default to the United States.

The decline in modern language teaching was also raised. “We need to speak the language of the country that we’re dealing with,” said one commentator during the Q&A. There was also a suggestion for the UK to “calm down” some of the nationalistic rhetoric churning on from the countdown to Brexit and beyond.

Mona Lotten pointed to a lack of investment in the BBC World Service and the British Council. Evie Aspinall said that, even while keeping up the discussion on funding, it was important for the UK to “do more with the money that we have”. “Perhaps we’re being so subtle that it’s just disappearing,” said Helen Jones, asking whether the UK had become too complacent about its soft power. Panellists and participants pointed to the importance of effectively using the existing British Council’s £1.6bn Cultural Recovery Fund.

“We have to nurture the soft power assets, otherwise the next time we look, they’ll be gone,” said Helen Jones.

“This is a moment that matters,” concluded chair Chris Alden. “We have a new government.”

Debbie Ransome is the Web Editor for the Round Table.

[Added in August 2024: Audio of the full panel discussion is now available.] 

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