Singapore and the Soft Power Experience

Abstract

Soft power is a product of nurture. It is the ability to get others to want what you want through cooptation or appeal, as opposed to hard, coercive power (Nye Jr., 2004). This is practically applicable to both small and large states alike, but for the former, it requires the transformation of political size and an intense trial of communitarian will. Given the ambit of the discussion covered in the Commonwealth Secretariat Report A Future for Small States — Overcoming Vulnerability published in 1997, soft power is a logical panacea for vulnerability. This report noted that ‘vulnerability is … the consequence of the interaction of two sets of factors: (1) the incidence and intensity of risk and threat, and (2) the ability to withstand risks and threats (resistance) and to “bounce back” from their consequences (resilience)’ (Commonwealth Secretariat, 1997: 13). Furthermore, it observed that small states’ security starts at home. Social cohesion in most small states is a major resource which adds to resilience and lessens internal insecurity. Small states exhibit an enviable record of political stability. While this is to be welcomed there is no room for complacency, since if order does break down in small states conflict can quickly ‘escalate beyond the survival of a particular regime to the survival of the core values of the society itself’ (Commonwealth Secretariat, 1997: xi).

I wish to thank Jean Tan for invaluable research assistance in the preparation of the final section of this chapter.