Soft Power: India Slips, China Rises, Germany Retains Top Spot!

by GoNews Desk Nov 06, 2021 • 06:55 PM Views 1213

Germany has again taken the top spot in the world, this time in terms of ‘soft power’. The country has secured the top place in the International Soft Power Survey 2021, achieving this for the 5th consecutive time. Following it is Canada in 2nd place, and Japan in the 3rd. The United States has improved its rankings and is now in the 8th place.

The US had seen its rank deteriorate in this list during the Donald Trump presidency, and its image abroad had taken a battering with Trump’s policies which many saw as “divisive” and discriminatory, also faulting it for pushing jingoism and aggression in foreign relations with the “America First” stance.

However, under Joe Biden, America seems to be regaining some of its glow amongst the international community and thus its image is improving. The interesting fact is that Britain has seen its score improve from 68.1% to 70% year-on-year. But, because it scored 1.1 percentage point less than Germany, it slipped from second to fifth place in the index, below Canada, Japan, and Italy.

Britain saw a marginal decline in its soft power ranking because of perceptions of its migration policies and environmentalism, although its fifth rank was also secured by its Science, Technology, Sports, Cultural, and Educational capacities.

India Is At 40th Spot!

Now, if we look at India, we will find that it has slipped by 6 places under the leadership of Narendra Modi and currently ranks 40th.

The research institute Ipsos has been using the ‘Nation Brands’ Index developed by Simon Anholt in 1996, since 2008. It has stated that the changes in countries’ rankings in the index are attributed to governance, tourism, immigration, and investment.

China ranks above India and ranks 31st overall in this index, having increased its ranking by 4 percentage points from last year when it was ranked 35th.

Ranking Of 60 Countries

Every year, the National Brands Index ranks 60 countries on the basis of 6 parameters including governance, foreign relations, culture, and quality of life. Excellent productivity and poverty-reduction efforts made Germany the first ranking nation in this index because its reputation, and therefore soft power, increased due to these positive factors.

Similarly, Japan secured the 9th place in Tokyo Olympics this year which boosted its points on this list. Canada has also improved its ranking by one position, getting to 2nd place against 3rd in 2020.

Top 10 Countries

The top 10 rankings in the soft power index are as follows:

  1. Germany
  2. Canada
  3. Japan
  4. Italy
  5. United Kingdom
  6. France
  7. Switzerland
  8. USA
  9. Sweden
  10. Australia

Russia is placed 27th on this list, Brazile 28th, Taiwan 33rd, Turkey 38th, and Indonesia at 43rd rank. Israel is on the 47th rank on in terms of softpower while Palestine ranks the last at 60. India’s neighbour Pakistan has not found a place on this index.