Soft Power Superpowers: Cultural and National Assets of Japan and the United States (review)

How should the human condition be understood? Should we rely on quantitative measurements, such as formal abstract modeling? Or more qualitative assessments, such as patient interpretations of human motivation contextualized historically? These dichotomies are overstated, of course, since an individual researcher often employs both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. However, one's answer to the aforementioned questions guides one's approach to studying power relations. Some researchers are prone to a numbers-oriented, one-size-fits-all approach. Some American political science departments are particularly guilty of this, having fallen prey to game theory, rational choice, and a general mathematicalization of the human condition that borders on the faddish. "Soft power," the topic of the edited volume under review, raises questions about research strategies that, while certainly not ignored, probably demand more attention. Such questions were not part of this book's explicit agenda, but Watanabe and McConnell's volume, in the way it focuses on more subtle expressions of power, forces us to ask about how political relations should be approached.

A product of two workshops, this impressive collection of articles puts flesh on the bones of a significant concept—soft power—that was elaborated by Joseph Nye in his 2004 book, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics.¹ Rather than focusing only on the operations of formal institutions (states, armies, ministries, and other "official" agents of power), soft power draws our attention to topics that are not always amenable to conventional political scientific analysis. Soft Power Superpowers examines a host of issues reflected in its five parts: Perception, Higher Education, Popular Culture, Public Diplomacy, and Civil Society.

In the foreword, Nye himself offers some crucial points of clarification about soft power: it is not restricted to states or international relations (that is, nongovernmental transnational organizations, educational institutions, religious organizations, and other nonstate actors may employ soft power), and it is a descriptive, not an idealistic or normative concept. Nye does not suggest that "hard" power can be completely discarded from the policy tool kit of governments; rather, he contends that the latter should be combined with soft power to create "smart power." In the introduction, Watanabe and McConnell also clarify what Nye meant, attempt to improve upon the concept, and take on his critics (for example, some confuse cultural attractiveness with soft power: it might become soft power but not necessarily).

The first two chapters deal with mutual perceptions among Americans and Japanese. Sentiments and attitudes are difficult to measure but they can nevertheless influence policymaking. In the first chapter, Watanabe Yasushi provides historical perspective on anti-Americanism in Japan, pointing out that since the late 1990s a combination of nationalism, fears about the United States ignoring Japan, and resentment of U.S. hegemony have kept this sentiment alive. Post-9/11 developments and attitudes in Japan opposing President George W. Bush increased such an outlook. Judiciously, Watanabe explains that conservatives may be pro-American or anti-American and that though not a large movement, the "patriotic Left" is finding common cause with anti-American conservatives.

In the next chapter, David L. McConnell explores how the Japanese state's "flagship program," the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program, is used to "open up" Japan and to improve its image abroad. The statistics of this program are impressive: it has a half-billion dollar annual budget (eclipsing better-known programs, such as the Fulbright Program and the Peace Corps). But McConnell warns that size does not necessarily equal positive impact and asks if such a program really promotes an attractive image of the country. Also, how do participants interpret their own experiences? What do JET alumni do after they return home? McConnell investigates other relevant issues, such as the problems and possibilities of top-down state intervention to shape overseas perceptions and the nature of the state: since different...