Yahoo – AFP,
Guy JACKSON, July 18, 2017
Paris (AFP)
- France has leapfrogged the United States and Britain as the world's top
so-called soft power, helped by the election of President Emmanuel Macron, a
study of countries' non-military global influence showed Tuesday.
While
France has risen, Donald Trump's ascent to the White House has seen the US slip
from the top last year to third place in the Soft Power 30 study, compiled by
PR company Portland Communications and the University of Southern California.
Soft power
measures a country's ability to secure international alliances and influence
others through its attraction and appeal.
The study
uses polling in 25 countries and digital data to measure a country's influence.
It takes
into account factors such as the ability of countries to attract foreign
students to its universities and tourists, as well as its cultural allure.
France's
rapid rise from fifth place last year, when it was in the doldrums under
unpopular ex-president Francois Hollande, is partly due to the centrist
Macron's election in May.
But the
country's diplomatic reach also played a key role.
"France's
greatest strength lies in its vast diplomatic network," the study says.
"It is
unrivalled in terms of membership to multilateral and international
organisations, as well as in its diplomatic cultural missions.
"With
Macron having long campaigned for cooperation and integration, it is not
unreasonable to expect France’s global engagement and influence to grow."
France also
remains the world's top tourist destination, the report said.
The terror
attacks that have cost the lives of more than 230 people since 2015 "have
not stopped tourists flocking to France and enjoying its rich cultural
offering, cuisine, and lifestyle," the report says.
The top
five countries by order are France, Britain, US, Germany and Canada. Japan has
risen to sixth place from seventh, Switzerland is seventh and Australia slips
to eighth.
The survey
attributes the US decline -- it has slipped from first last year to third -- to
a deterioration of "global sentiment" as a result of Trump's
"America First" policy.
The US was
still "unrivalled" in higher education, technological innovation and
the production of film, music and TV, it pointed out.
Britain
loses influence
Meanwhile,
the report's authors warn that Britain's fall -- it was top of the rankings
last year -- "should serve as a warning of what is likely to come for
post-Brexit British influence".
With
negotiations under way for Britain to leave the European Union within two
years, the report says: "It is hard to imagine the direction of travel for
British soft power... will be upwards in the future."
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