• Research
  • Politika
  • About
Carnegie Russia Eurasia center logoCarnegie lettermark logo
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "Josh Kurlantzick"
  ],
  "type": "other",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "asia",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "AP",
  "programs": [
    "Asia"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "China",
    "Southeast Asia",
    "East Asia"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Democracy",
    "Economy",
    "Trade",
    "Military",
    "Domestic Politics"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

Other

China's Charm: Implications of Chinese Soft Power

While China’s rising soft power could prove benign or even beneficial in some respects, it could prove disastrous for Southeast Asia—for democratization, for anticorruption initiatives, and for good governance.

Link Copied
By Josh Kurlantzick
Published on Jun 5, 2006

In a new Policy Brief, China’s Charm: Implications of Chinese Soft Power, Carnegie Visiting Scholar Joshua Kurlantzick analyzes China’s influence and policy tools of soft power and argues that, while China’s rising soft power could prove benign or even beneficial in some respects, it could prove disastrous for Southeast Asia—for democratization, for anticorruption initiatives, and for good governance.

Over the past decade China has downplayed its hard power in Southeast Asia, instead creating a strategy to build its soft power. For the first time in post-WWII history, the United States may be facing a situation in which another country’s appeal outstrips its own in an important region, a change sure to shock the United States. Before China’s appeal spreads to other parts of the developing world, U.S. policy makers need to understand how China exerts soft power, if China’s soft power could be dangerous to developing nations, and whether elements of China’s charm could threaten U.S. interests. 

Click on the link above for the full text of this Carnegie publication.

Joshua Kurlantzick is a visiting scholar in the China Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

About the Author

Josh Kurlantzick

Former Visiting Scholar, China Program

A special correspondent for The New Republic, a columnist for Time, and a senior correspondent for The American Prospect, Kurlantzick assesses China’s relationship with the developing world, including Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

    Recent Work

  • In The Media
    Fighting Terrorism With Terrorists

      Josh Kurlantzick

  • Other
    Beijing’s Safari: China’s Move into Africa and Its Implications for Aid, Development, and Governance

      Josh Kurlantzick

Josh Kurlantzick
Former Visiting Scholar, China Program
Josh Kurlantzick
Political ReformDemocracyEconomyTradeMilitaryDomestic PoliticsChinaSoutheast AsiaEast Asia

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Price Analysis Shows China Holds Upper Hand in Russia Gas Supply Talks

    A leak of Russian gas price data helps establish that China is paying Russia far less than Central Asian countries and Gazprom’s former European customers.

      • Sergey Vakulenko

      Sergey Vakulenko

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Ukrainian Drone Attacks Reveal the Cost of Russia’s “Sovereign Internet” Campaign

    Russia spent years building a “sovereign internet,” concentrating web infrastructure exclusively within Russian territory. Ukrainian drone attacks have shown how vulnerable that approach has left the Russian internet.

      Maria Kolomychenko

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    How the Latest Election Changed the Role of Russia’s Parliament

    Putin’s conservative staffing policies and search for ever greater control have cemented parliament’s transformation into a bureaucratic appendage of the executive branch.

      Andrey Pertsev

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    How Will Trump and Putin’s Diesel Deal Impact Russia and Global Markets?

    Without a ceasefire with Ukraine on attacking each other’s energy infrastructure—to which the Kremlin is unlikely to agree—the diesel agreement between Putin and Trump is largely for show, rather than representing a genuine increase in the volumes of Russian diesel on the global market.

      • Sergey Vakulenko

      Sergey Vakulenko

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Stalled at the Front, Russia Seeks to Undermine Ukraine’s Economic Capacity

    Russian strikes are weakening the economy sustaining Ukraine’s war effort. Closing the growing funding gap will require more European support and politically contentious reforms in Kyiv.

      Balázs Jarábik

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
Carnegie Russia Eurasia logo, white
  • Research
  • Politika
  • About
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • For Media
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.