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Soft Power Of India In Africa
In response to the limitations of hard power, some countries, including India, have increasingly incorporated soft power into their foreign policy, particularly in relations with developing nations. In 1950, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru advocated for the integration of the Indian diaspora into African nations; however, in the 1990s, following the end of the Cold War, India's foreign policy underwent a fundamental reassessment of the diaspora's role, utilizing these expatriate communities as a key element of soft power to elevate its global image. Indian Cinema Since the early 20th century, Indian films have helped communities, especially in Africa, connect with their culture, offering insights into social values, fashion, and food at a time when travel to India was expensive. Scholars like Daya Kishan Thussu and Shashi Tharoor discuss Indian cinema as a form of 'soft power,' using culture to engage with international audiences. This approach has been used in India's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hard Power
In politics, hard power is the use of military and economics, economic means to social influence, influence the behavior or interests of other political bodies. This form of political power is often aggressive (coercion), and is most immediately effective when imposed by one political body upon another of less military and/or economic power. Hard power contrasts with soft power, which comes from diplomacy, culture and history. According to Joseph Nye, hard power involves "the ability to use the carrots and sticks of economic and military might to make others follow your will". Here, "carrots" stand for inducements such as the reduction of trade barriers, the offer of an alliance or the promise of military protection. On the other hand, "sticks" represent threats - including the use of coercive diplomacy, the threat of war, military intervention, or the implementation of economic sanctions. Ernest J. Wilson III, Ernest Wilson describes hard power as the capacity to coerce "another ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soft Power
In politics (and particularly in international politics), soft power is the ability to co-option, co-opt rather than coerce (in contrast with hard power). It involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. Soft power is non-coercive, using culture, political Value (ethics), values, and foreign policies to enact change. In 2012, Joseph Nye of Harvard University explained that with soft power, "the best propaganda is not propaganda", further explaining that during the Information Age, "credibility is the scarcest resource". Nye popularised the term in his 1990 book, ''Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power''. In this book he wrote: "when one country gets other countries to want what it wants might be called co-optive or soft power in contrast with the hard or command power of ordering others to do what it wants". He further developed the concept in his 2004 book, ''Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics''. Explanation of concept ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a principal leader of the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s. Upon India's independence in 1947, he served as the country's first prime minister for 16 years. Nehru promoted parliamentary democracy, secularism, and science and technology during the 1950s, powerfully influencing India's arc as a modern nation. In international affairs, he steered India clear of the two blocs of the Cold War. A well-regarded author, he wrote books such as '' Letters from a Father to His Daughter'' (1929), '' An Autobiography'' (1936) and '' The Discovery of India'' (1946), that have been read around the world. The son of Motilal Nehru, a prominent lawyer and Indian nationalist, Jawaharlal Nehru was educated in England—at Harrow School and T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Diaspora In Africa
Migration from India into Africa pre-dates European colonization. The number of Indians in Africa increased greatly with the settlement of Indians in Africa as indentured servants during colonization, and has continued to increase into the 21st century. Indian-African history Trade migrations: precolonial Indo-African relations India and Africa have over a three thousand-year history of cultural and commercial relations. Sources from India show evidence of trade and contact between the Dravidians and Babylonians dating back to the 7th century B.C. This evidence has been interpreted to understand Indian merchants and sailors having visited Southern Arabia, situated on the Eastern part of the Horn of Africa also known as the Somali peninsula. Additionally, Indian coastal communities developed profitable ties with East Africa, East Asia, and Central Asia in pre-colonial times. The ‘trade diaspora’ was unique as it consisted largely of ‘temporary’ and ‘circular’ migrati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term ''Cold war (term), cold war'' is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and Nuclear arms race, nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, Economic sanctions, embargoes, and sports diplomacy. After the end of World War II in 1945, during which the US and USSR had been allies, the USSR installed satellite state, satellite governments in its occupied territories in Eastern Europe and N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shashi Tharoor
Shashi Tharoor (; born 9 March 1956) is an Indian politician, author, and former diplomat, who has been serving as Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009. He is currently the Chairman of Committee on External Affairs. He was formerly an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and 2006 United Nations Secretary-General selection for the post of Secretary-General in 2006. Founder-Chairman of All India Professionals Congress, he formerly served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and on Informational Technology. He has about two dozen titles to his credit and was awarded by World Economic Forum as "Global Leader of Tomorrow". Born in London and raised in Mumbai and Kolkata, Tharoor graduated from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, in 1975 and culminated his studies in 1978 with a doctorate in International Relations and Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. At the age of 22, he was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pravin Gordhan
Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan (12 April 1949 – 13 September 2024) was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist who held various ministerial posts in the Cabinet of South Africa. He served as Minister of Finance from 2009 until 2014, and again from 2015 until 2017, as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2014 until 2015, and as Minister of Public Enterprises from February 2018 until June 2024, when the entire Department of Public Enterprises and its ministry were abolished following the 2024 general elections. Early years and education Pravin Gordhan was born on 12 April 1949 to an Indian South African family, in Durban, and matriculated from Sastri College in 1967. In 1973 he graduated from the University of Durban-Westville with a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree. He completed his pharmacy internship at King Edward VIII Hospital in 1974 and worked there until 1981. Early political activism Gordhan became associated with members of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Navin Ramgoolam
Navinchandra Ramgoolam (born 14 July 1947) is a Mauritian politician and physician who is the current prime minister of Mauritius, serving since 2024. He previously held the office from 1995 to 2000 and from 2005 to 2014 and intermittently served as leader of the opposition when not in office. Ramgoolam is the son of former prime minister and governor-general Seewoosagur Ramgoolam and has led the Labour Party (Mauritius), Labour Party since 1991. After an astounding defeat in the 2000 Mauritian general election, 2000 General Elections, he became prime minister for a second term after his coalition, Alliance Sociale, won the 2005 Mauritian general election, 2005 General Elections. The 2024 Mauritian general election, 2024 general election saw the landslide victory of his coalition Alliance du Changement. Following Pravind Jugnauth's resignation as prime minister, Ramgoolam was sworn in for a third time at the State House of Mauritius in the presence of President (government title) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoga
Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as practiced in the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ... traditions. Yoga may have pre-Vedic period, Vedic origins, but is first attested in the early first millennium BCE. It developed as various traditions in the eastern Ganges basin drew from a common body of practices, including Vedas, Vedic elements. Yoga-like practices are mentioned in the ''Rigveda'' and a number of early Upanishads, but systematic yoga concepts emerge during the fifth and sixth centuries BCE in ancient India's sannyasa, ascetic and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Africa–India Relations
Africa–India relations (also referred to as Indo-African relations or Afro-Indian relations) are the historical, political, economic, and cultural connections between India and the African continent. Historical relations concerned mainly India and East Africa. However, in modern days—and with the expansion of diplomatic and commercial representations— India has now developed ties with most of the African nations. Trade between India & Africa stood at US$62.66 billion (2017–18) making India the fourth largest trading partner of Africa. Historical background Africa and India are connected by the Indian Ocean. The geographical proximity between the Horn of Africa and the Indian subcontinent has played an important role in the development of the relationship since ancient times. Ancient trade relations Indo-African relations date back to the Bronze Age period of the Indus Valley civilization, Pearl millet first domesticated in Africa have been discovered from the site o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cultural Diplomacy
Cultural diplomacy is a type of soft power that includes the "exchange of ideas, information, art, language and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding". The purpose of cultural diplomacy is for the people of a foreign nation to develop an understanding of the nation's ideals and institutions in an effort to build broad support for economic and political objectives. In essence "cultural diplomacy reveals the soul of a nation", which in turn creates influence.United States, Department of State, Advisory Committee on Cultural Diplomacy, Diplomacy Report of the Advisory Committee on Cultural Diplomacy, 3. Public diplomacy has played an important role in advancing national security objectives. Definition In a 2006 article in the '' Brown Journal of World Affairs'', Cynthia P. Schneider wrote: "Public diplomacy consists of all a nation does to explain itself to the world, and cultural diplomacy – the use of creative expr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
