[illignocearia]

05/29/2012 5:30 pm | Heff Post

BEIJING -- During the 20 years since the demise of the Soviet Union, and after a unipolar moment for the United States,
China has emerged as the newest superpower. All its predecessors at this exalted level, going back even before Rome, have
established their positions by amassing formidable military strength. But China is going about matters differently.

Recognizing that it would require budget-wrecking spending to quickly catch up with the United States as a wielder of military
strength, China is, at least for now, emphasizing soft power -- trying to extend its influence through attraction rather than coercion.



Although it certainly retains the capability to strong-arm other nations with its economic weapons, China has become the world's
most active exponent of public diplomacy. It has spent an estimated U.S. $7 billion on its international broadcasting efforts, many
millions more on its worldwide network of Confucius Institutes, and additional large sums on projects as significant as educational
exchanges and as trivial as advertising on electronic billboards in New York's Times Square. Further, some of China's best universities
are embracing public diplomacy as an academic discipline, training the country's next generation of experts in this field.

But what is China getting for all this money and effort? Public opinion polls from around the world indicate decidedly mixed results.
In parts of Africa, where China has built roads and stadiums, its popularity has risen. Elsewhere, however, China is viewed warily as
heavy-handed and insensitive to the political and economic lives of countries where it is expanding its presence.