Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
SM baner

Vol. 73 No. 3 (2020): Westlessness czyli zmierzch Zachodu 2.0?

Westlessness czyli zmierzch Zachodu 2.0?

Soft power in times of the plague: the winners and losers of first wave of COVID-19 (winter-summer 2020)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35757/SM.2020.73.3.10
Submitted: June 4, 2021
Published: March 30, 2021

Abstract

The aim of the article is to identify the soft power winners and losers of the first wave of the global health crisis caused by COVID-19 (winter–summer 2020); to analyse the factors which have contributed to such outcome; and finally, to extract examples of the best practices, which can serve other states in the next stages of the pandemic. The article argues that there is a correlation between the quality of a country’s response to the global health crisis (both domestically and abroad) and a change in international public perceptions of that state. Moreover, the states that gained the most soft power in 2020, have not done so based solely on their political system or past performance. Instead, a key factor was the existing domestic and foreign policy collaborative culture, which resulted in the ability to get everyone behind a common response to the crisis at home, but also to promote global solutions to the crisis abroad.

References

  1. Allen D., A more resilient union. How federalism can protect democracy from pandemics, “Foreign Affairs”, July/August 2020, pp. 26–32.
  2. Beaumont P., Connolly K., COVID-19 track and trace: what can UK learn from countries that got it right?, “The Guardian” [online], 21 V 2020 [accessed: 25 VII 2020], available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/21/covid-19-track-and-trace-what-can-uk-learn-from-countries-got-it-right>.
  3. Bechis F., Se gli italiani preferiscono la Cina agli USA (e alla UE), “Formiche” [online], 20 IV 2020 [accessed: 17 VIII 2020], available at: <https://formiche.net/2020/04/italiani-preferiscono-cina-usa-ue/?fbclid=Iwar0awsenke1- (snhb2cjck2eyxs4L7X4ZjsbwH5YxEcLgId-Euvaf5cohpfe>.
  4. Beer T., U.S. won’t join global coronavirus vaccine effort because it’s led by the WHO, “Forbes” [online], 1 IX 2020 [accessed: 16 IV 2021], available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/09/01/us-wont-join-global-coronavirus-vaccine-effort-because-its-led-by-the-who/?sh=9ccf5d858769>.
  5. Braw E., Forget Washington and Beijing. These days global leadership comes from Berlin, “Foreign Policy” [online], 28 IV 2020 [accessed: 28 VIII 2020], available at: <https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/28/global-leadership-coronavirus-pandemic-germany-united-states-china/>.
  6. Bruno A. V., How mismanaging a pandemic can cost countries their soft power, Fair Observer, 18 VI 2020 [accessed: 25 VII 2020], available at: <https://www.fairobserver.com/coronavirus/valerio-alfonso-bruno-covid-19-pandemic-misman-agmennt-us-brazil-uk-sweden-soft-power-news-15511/>.
  7. Campbell C., ‘We will share our vaccine with the world.’ Inside the Chinese biotech firm leading the fight against COVID-19, “Time” [online], 27 VII 2020 [accessed: 28 VIII 2020], available at: <https://time.com/5872081/sinovac-covid19-coronavirus-vaccine-coronavac/>.
  8. Campbell-Cree A., Lotten M., The value of trust. How trust is earned and why it matters, British Council Report, June 2018 [accessed: 21 VIII 2020], available at: <https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/the_value_of_trust.pdf>.
  9. Chazan G., How Germany got coronavirus right, “Financial Times” [online], 4 VI 2020 [accessed: 21 VIII 2020], available at: <https://www.ft.com/content/cc1f650a-91c0-4e1f-b990-ee8ceb5339ea>.
  10. Cyranoski D., What China’s coronavirus response can teach the rest of the world, “Nature Research Journal” [online], 17 III 2020 [accessed: 21 VIII 2020], available at: <https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00741-x>.
  11. Dennison S., P. Zerka, Together in trauma. Europeans and the world after COVID-19, European Council on Foreign Relations, Policy Brief no. 328, June 2020.
  12. Dettmer J., China’s ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy prompts international backlash, Voice of America [online], 6 V 2020 [accessed: 03 IX 2020], available at: <https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/chinas-wolf-warrior-diplomacy-prompts-international-backlash>.
  13. Fukuyama F., The pandemic and political order. It takes a state, “Foreign Affairs”, July/August 2020, pp.33–38.
  14. Graham-Harrison E., Kuo L., China’s coronavirus lockdown strategy: brutal but effective, “The Guardian” [online], 19 III 2020 [accessed: 17 IX 2020], available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/19/chinas-coronavirus-lockdown-strategy-brutal-but-effective>.
  15. Hessler H., How China controlled the coronavirus. Teaching and learning in Sichuan during the pandemic, “The New Yorker“ [online] 17 VIII 2020 [accessed: 27 VIII 2020], available at: <https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/08/17/how-china-controlled-the-coronavirus>.
  16. Hornung J. W., Don’t be fooled by China’s mask diplomacy, “Los Angeles Times” [online], 5 V 2020 [accessed: 03 IX 2020], available at: <https://www.rand.org/blog/2020/05/dont-be-fooled-by-chinas-mask-diplomacy.html>.
  17. Horton J., Dale B., Stylianou N., Coronavirus: Is the us the worst-hit country for deaths?, BBC News [online], 23 VIII 2020 [accessed: 03 IX 2020], available at: <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53780196>.
  18. Kim S., Korea economy shrinks just 1% in 2020 on exports, Bloomberg [online], 26 I 2021 [accessed: 26 II 2021], available at: <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-25/south-korea-growth-beats-estimates-amid-export-recovery>.
  19. Kupferschmidt K., Cohen J., China’s aggressive measures have slowed the coronavirus. They may not work in other countries, “Science Magazine“ [online], 2 III 2020 [accessed: 17 IX 2020], available at: <https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/china-s-aggressive-measures-have-slowed-coronavirus-they-may-not-work-other-countries>.
  20. Labs A., Emerging COVID-19 success story: South Korea learned the lessons of mers, Our World in Data, 30 VI 2020 [accessed: 26 VIII 2020], available at: <https://ourworldindata.org/covid-exemplar-south-korea>.
  21. Legucka A., Przychodniak M., Disinformation from China and Russia during the COVID-19 Pandemic, “The Polish Institute of International Affairs Bulletin”, No. 86 (1516), 21 iv 2020.
  22. Litt D., The coronavirus crisis in the U.S. is a failure of democracy, “Time” [online], 20 V 2020 [accessed: 07 IX 2020], available at: <https://time.com/5839195/coronavirus-democracy-failure/>.
  23. Lotten M., Soft power and COVID-19, Policy Insight, British Council, May 2020 [accessed: 28 VIII 2020], available at: <https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-policy-insight/insight-articles/soft-power-covid-19>.
  24. MacDonald A., Sources of soft power. How perceptions determine the success of nations, British Council, February 2020 [accessed: 28 viii 2020], available at: <https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/sources-soft-power-report-perceptions-success.pdf>.
  25. McClory J., The new persuaders. An international ranking of soft power, The Institute of Government, December 2010 [accessed: 28 VIII 2020], available at: <https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/The%20new%20persuaders_0.pdf>.
  26. Merkel: Coronavirus is Germany’s greatest challenge since World War II, Deutsche Welle, [online], 18 III 2020 [accessed: 23 VII 2020], available at: <https://www.dw.com/en/merkel-coronavirus-is-germanys-greatest-challenge-since-world-war-ii/a-52830797>.
  27. Momtaz R., Germany to send face masks to Italy to help deal with coronavirus, Politico [online], 14 III 2020 [accessed: 28 VIII 2020], available at: <https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-to-send-face-masks-to-italy-to-help-deal-with-coronavirus/>.
  28. Nye J. S. Jr, Soft power – the means to success in world politics, Public Affairs, New York 2004.
  29. Patey L., COVID-19 pandemic is no soft power victory for China, Danish Institute for International Studies, 23 IV 2020 [accessed: 03 IX 2020], available at: <https://www.diis.dk/en/research/covid-19-pandemic-is-no-soft-power-victory-china>.
  30. Patrick S., When the system fails. COVID-19 and the costs of global dysfunction, “Foreign Affairs”, July/August 2020, pp.40–50.
  31. Pisarska K., The domestic dimension of public diplomacy. Evaluating success through civil engagement, Palgrave Macmillan, Houndmills 2016.
  32. Proedrou F., Frangonikolopoulos C., Refocusing public diplomacy. The need for strategic discursive public diplomacy, “Diplomacy & Statecraft” 2012, vol. 23, issue 4, pp. 728–745.
  33. Qian C., Nebehay S., China joins WHO-backed vaccine programme COVAX rejected by Trump, Reuters [online], 09 X 2020 [accessed: 16 IV 2020], available at: <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-covax-iduskbn26u027>.
  34. Rudd K., The coming post-COVID anarchy. The pandemic bodes ill for both American and Chinese power – and for the global order, “Foreign Affairs” [online], 6 V 2020 [accessed: 03 IX 2020], available at: <https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-05-06/coming-post-covid-anarchy>.
  35. Runde D. F., Savoy C., McKeown S., COVID-19 has consequences for U.S. foreign aid and global leadership, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1 V 2020 [accessed: 23 VII 2020], available at: <https://www.csis.org/analysis/covid-19-has-consequences-us-foreign-aid-and-global-leadership>.
  36. Scholz K.-A., Germans rally behind Merkel government’s coronavirus response, Deutsche Welle [online], 8 V 2020 [accessed: 21 VIII 2020], available at: <https://www.dw.com/en/germans-rally-behind-merkel-governments-coronavirus-response/a-53366507>.
  37. Snyder A., Sindyukov M., How covid-19 is changing the soft power game, “Diplomatic Courier” [online], 16 IV 2020 [accessed: 22 VIII 2020], available at: <https://www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/how-covid-19-is-changing-the-soft-power-game>.
  38. Spahn J., How Germany contained the virus, World Economic Forum, 23 V 2020 [accessed: 21 VIII 2020], available at: <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/how-germany-contained-the-coronavirus/https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/how-germany-contained-the-coronavirus/>.
  39. Terhune C., Levine D., Jin H., Lee J. L., Special report: How Korea trounced U.S. in race to test people for coronavirus, Reuters World News [online], 18 iii 2020 [accessed: 28 VIII 2020], available at: <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-testing-specialrep/special-report-how-korea-trounced-u-s-in-race-to-test-people-for-coronavirus-iduskbn2153bw?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=twitter>.
  40. Thomas K., LaFraniere S., Weiland N., Goodnough A., Haberman M., F. D. A. clears Pfizer vaccine, and millions of doses will be shipped right away, “The New York Times” [online], 11 XII 2020 [accessed: 28 I 2021], available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/health/pfizer-vaccine-authorized.html>.
  41. Wallach P. A., Myers J., The federal government’s coronavirus response – public health timeline, The Brookings Institution, 31 III 2020 [accessed: 23 VII 2020], available at: <https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-federal-governments-corona-virus-actions-and-failures-timeline-and-themes/>.
  42. Wen P., Hinshaw D., China asserts claim to global leadership, mask by mask, “The Wall Street Journal” [online], 1 IV 2020 [accessed: 21 VIII 2020], available at: <https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-asserts-claim-to-global-leadership-mask-by-mask-11585752077>.
  43. Wieler L., Rexroth U., Gottschalk R., Emerging COVID-19 success story: Germany’s strong enabling environment, Our World in Data, 30 VI 2020 [accessed: 25 IX 2020], available at: <https://ourworldindata.org/covid-exemplar-germany#licence>.
  44. Winkleman A., Debinski G., The graphic truth: The COVID vaccine race, GZERO [online], 11 VIII 2020 [accessed: 27 II 2020], available at: <https://www.gzeromedia.com/the-graphic-truth-the-covid-vaccine-race>.
  45. Yamey G., Wenham C., The U.S. and U.K. were the two best prepared nations to tackle a pandemic – What went wrong?, “Time” [online], 1 VII 2020 [accessed: 03 IX 2020], available at: <https://time.com/5861697/us-uk-failed-coronavirus-response/>.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Similar Articles

<< < 1 2 3 4 5 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.