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Soft in sentence

1567 examples of Soft in a sentence

China, Brazil, and India have not decoupled from their customers in Europe and North America, and so are slowing, though a relatively soft landing is likely if Europe’s recession is as short and mild as predicted.
Agreements with, and access to, the International Monetary Fund and Europe’s new bailout fund provide (soft) constraints.
In 2007, then-President Hu Jintao told the Communist Party that the country needed to increase its soft power;President Xi Jinping repeated the same message last year.
As China enrolls countries as members of its Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and doles out billions of dollars of aid during state visits abroad, some observers worry that, when it comes to soft power, China could actually be taking the lead over countries like the United States.
Combining hard and soft power into a smart strategy, it turns out, is not easy.
A country derives its soft power primarily from three resources: its culture (in places that find it appealing), its political values (when it lives up to them at home and abroad), and its foreign policies (when they are seen as legitimate and having moral authority).
Two major factors limit China’s soft power, as measured by recent international polls.
As noted by The Economist, the Chinese Communist Party has not bought into the idea that soft power springs largely from individuals, the private sector, and civil society.
Instead, it has clung to the view that the government is the main source of soft power, promoting ancient cultural icons that it thinks might have global appeal, often using the tools of propaganda.
The US, by contrast, derives much of its soft power not from the government, but from civil society – everything from universities and foundations to Hollywood and pop culture.
Even more important, it lacks the many non-governmental organizations that generate much of America’s soft power.
In addition to generating good will and promoting the country’s image abroad, non-governmental sources of soft power can sometimes compensate for the government’s unpopular policies – like the US invasion of Iraq – through their critical and uncensored reaction.
As long as China fans the flames of nationalism and holds tight the reins of party control, its soft power will always remain limited.
When we live up to our own best traditions, we can stimulate emulation and generate the soft power of attraction.
The election of Barack Hussein Obama in 2008 did a great deal to restore the soft power of American democracy.
In the climate of extreme fear that followed the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Bush administration’s tortured legal interpretations of international and domestic law tarnished American democracy and diminished its soft power.
Donald Trump’s presidency has eroded America’s soft power.
Trump’s defenders reply that soft power does not matter.
Soft power rests on attraction rather than coercion or payment.
A country’s soft power comes primarily from three sources: its culture (when it is attractive to others), its political values such as democracy and human rights (when it lives up to them), and its policies (when they are seen as legitimate because they are framed with some humility and awareness of others’ interests.)
It is true that firms, universities, foundations, churches, and other non-governmental groups develop soft power of their own which may reinforce or be at odds with official foreign policy goals.
And all of these private sources of soft power are likely to become increasingly important in the global information age.
That is all the more reason for governments to make sure that their own actions and policies create and reinforce rather than undercut and squander their soft power.
Domestic or foreign policies that appear hypocritical, arrogant, indifferent to others’ views, or based on a narrow conception of national interests can undermine soft power.
When the policy changed and the memories of the war receded, the US recovered much of its lost soft power.
Similarly, in the aftermath of the Iraq war, the US managed to recover much of its soft power in most regions of the world (though less so in the Middle East).
Skeptics might still argue that the rise and fall of American soft power does not matter much, because countries cooperate out of self-interest.
Moreover, the effects of a country’s soft power extend to non-state actors – for example, by aiding or impeding recruitment by terrorist organizations.
One of the greatest sources of America’s soft power is the openness of its democratic processes.
Given past experience, there is every reason to hope that the US will recover its soft power after Trump.
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