What Campaign?

I am very curious about the discussion over power as examined by Peter Van Ham in Social Power in International politics. He explains that power is all around us, its not solely coercion, as well as that power is also not necessarily visible. Van Ham goes on to talk about social power specifically, however I was struck by the notion of how power is not like a resource like money; its not something that one can always draw upon, because unlike other resources, power depends on perceptions of others. I find this notion very interesting for it demonstrates the complexity of power; that the same action can have totally different effects on different people depending on their perception of the action.

I want to use the example of China’s public diplomacy campaign that is being shown in New York Times square and other American News Television stations like CNN, trying to promote there national image. I’m curious if this 30-second campaign called “Experience China” which features the countries celebrities and nationals from all walks of life, is actually making any different in the perceptions of China here in the United States.

I want to compare my sister and myself with how we each perceive the campaign. My sister used to work in the entertainment industry and has now switched gears and is becoming a nurse practitioner at NYU, while I am in my last semester of my master program in International Communications. When I asked her about the ad, she first asked what the heck was I was talking about. This is nothing against my sister, but first as a New Yorker, she rarely ever goes to Time Square, and second, she never watches the news or channels like CNN, where the campaign is also shown. Then she said, "so what about the campaign?" I asked her, “well, they are showing it in time square, don’t you think it’s a big deal or feel like they are invading your city?” My sisters response was, “No. Who cares, we have American images, commercials, movies, songs all over the world. Makes no difference.” To my sister, this campaign doesn’t effect her, or change her perception of China at all. She could care less, and doesn’t feel like this is China asserting any power by having this campaign in the United States.

However, I have a different view of the campaign. This campaign made me more curious about China and the famous people they showed. I also definitely feel like China is trying to show and prove themselves to the Americans. They are showing us that they are not only on the world stage economically, but also culturally and I feel like it is just another form of asserting their power.