Lords soft power debate
8 December 2014
Members of the Lords, including a former chief of defence staff and the former chair of the Soft Power Committee, debated the role of soft power and non-military options in conflict prevention, on Friday 5 December.
Members spoke about the importance of the UK’s soft power influence in the world, highlighting some of the key UK institutions that spread soft power, including the Anglican Communion, the BBC World Service, the Department for International Development (DfID), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the monarchy and universities. They compared the relative costs of employing soft and hard power, and the necessity to employ a range of messages and new forms of diplomacy in a ‘world of hybrid wars’.
Peers also spoke about how a balance between hard and soft power could be factored into any strategic defence and security review that follows the 2015 general election.