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18. In a world of competing interests and influences, who succeeds not only in holding their own ground - ensuring the confidence of their citizens – but also in contributing qualitatively to the emergence of our ever more globalised world in the 21C? It is the countries with most soft power.

19. To be attractive and have influence, a country must develop a way of being in the world which is intelligent at every level – intellectually, emotionally, spiritually – to present an authentic, open, global identity that other countries can understand, engage with and trust. It must develop a clear moral stance on the future and be consistent rather than opportunistic, facing both inwards and outwards.

20. Some of you reading this will think job done: Britain knows where it stands in the world and has no trouble projecting that through its many soft power vehicles – the BBC, British Council, Arts industries etc. And yes, in many ways Britain is well ahead of other countries both small and large and has remarkable stocks of soft power given its size. However, with the diminishing of its hard power capabilities, will that always be the same? There will be no doubt from the majority of those giving evidence to the Select Committee that we have to stop the depletion of our soft power vehicles - BBC, British Council, Film Institute etc - and for that reason I will not make that case here.

21. In this paper I prefer to focus on the power that arises from our story, how we are perceived in the world in terms of our values, moral strength, benignity and to what extent this gives us relationship potential. Is it clear, authentic, confident in the way I describe Norway above? I'm sure the jury will be out on that but let's begin with an assumption that it wishes to be so and likes to believe it has an history of behaving with integrity.

22. Being able to see with a global eye view then is crucial and would reveal many

weaknesses that, if courageously addressed, would not only shore up British identity but give it the kind of influence in global society it once had in the global economy. Here is a

beginner's list of issues that currently cause distrust because of their inconsistent handling, but could be a great source of soft power if we could tell a better story about them:

• _{Immigration: Britain's past is characterised by its Empire. Today, Britain has} become the home of many of the citizens of its former colonies. Yet no British politician can tell a story of how this is consistent with Britain's global- centric identity. Instead, Britain's ambivalence about the value of its

immigrants allows the default story to arise – that Britain's interest in the globe was singular and selfish and holds no love of the world and its diversity at core.

• Weapons of mass destruction: Britain went to war with Iraq because it

believed Saddam Hussein was hiding WMD. However, Britain itself is hugely invested in the military industrial complex that manufactures weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons. It refuses permission to Iran to develop even domestic nuclear capabilities, yet is about to invest another 4billion in replacing Trident. This kind of hypocrisy robs Britain of its influence in developing countries as well as amongst transglobal movements – both terrorist and peaceful.

• Women: the British press and politicians appear to take a clear stand on

female equality around the world. Yet we are 53rd in the globe in achieving balanced representation in our Parliament or board rooms – that puts us behind Pakistan, Afghanistan, many of the countries whose attitudes to

50 women we challenge.

• Gap between the rich and poor: this is a consistent trope in British

politics that we fail to address from a narrative viewpoint. In Holland the King and Queen – traditional symbols of privilege - have a clear objective to connect with their people. They ride bikes, have opinions, appear in public without pomp. In contrast, the celebrity nature of our Royal Family both emphasises and makes light of the evidence that the class system is thriving: something more obvious to outsiders than to ourselves. As a result, British politicians are left eulogising about the achievements of European countries whilst suffering the humiliation of continuing to appear low in the list of nations overcoming the gap.

• Well being: Britain wants to be a leader in the well being industry - a

combination of mental and physical health practices and products. Yet it is the only country in the EU that has opted out of the shorter working weeks policy, thereby ensuring that only the wealthy have a choice to create a good work life balance.

23. These are all cross party issues whose outcome is as much in the hands of the multi media machine as government. However, a better understanding of soft power might encourage more cooperation across the sectors to forge new and more positive narratives in each of these areas rather than expend the same energy on point scoring against each other. Soft power does not arrive from results alone, but from the attention that is being paid to issues in the course of governing.

A2) Our ability to influence outcomes in global conflicts

24. As the current conflict in Syria is demonstrating for us, the public appetite for war has decreased significantly. There are many reasons for this:

• the cost of war: we can't afford to police the world any more

• a leap in awareness of the mental and physical damage wreaked by war on those taking part and their families

• disillusion with results delivered by hard power post Iraq, Afghanistan and to some extent, Egypt

• loss of trust in government and the true motives behind going to war

• globalisation is maturing: once we understood it as the unregulated space that

multinationals were taking over. Today we are more aware of the dynamics between competing nations, religions, cultures.

• More of us live global lives – not just through travel, but through the virtual global community we have constructed as our daily interface

• A growing global centric view: more people sign up to NGOs that fight for pan-global causes such as climate change than sign up for political parties

25. Nevertheless, people – or shall we say voters to give them their influence in government – are still clearly affected by the plight of the victims of war and anxious about power shifts in the globe. In response they are either retreating from engagement for practical reasons or looking for new ways to be influential in the outcome. The million people marching against going to war with Iraq proved pointless. Ten years on social media was able to deliver a more resounding 87% of people polled against going to war with Syria and it made the

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difference between a motion being carried or lost. Both Miliband and Cameron showed courage in accepting the will of the people over what may have been their own preference to support Obama in the call to strikes. Britain caused the US military to pause and today we are talking about Syria joining the treaty against the use of chemical weapons. In domino fashion, the Presidents of US and Iran are now talking for the first time since 1997.

26. None of this is hard power – it is a demonstration of how the many different elements of soft power combine to get an effect hard power can no longer deliver. Soft power as

cultural capital guaranteed Britain's decisions make an impact. It is the direct use of the media, particularly social media, to tell a different story about global dynamics – what the people of one country wants for the people of another - rather than the old school exchange of political stand offs, that is growing exponentially.

27. How conflict is reported is a crucial instrument of Britain's soft power. While the BBC has always believed its own claim that it only reports the facts, no news organisation operates without an agenda although it is often unexamined. I took part in 10 years of investigation and research into how conflict is reported, much of which is now written up and taught by Jake Lynch and Annabel McGoldrick from Sidney University

(http://bit.ly/1aSAQeT) in countries all over the world. Until recently, reporting global conflict has been very closely allied with reporting war: daily news is framed as moving towards or away from war. Outbreaks of violence, both small and large are reported faithfully while peace initiatives are mostly sidelined. Readers are well informed about the history of conflict but know little or nothing about the history of movements to overcome those conflicts. Framing news is an important aspect of soft power. Because Britain has such an extensive network of news organisations, the active development of a global story about new ways of transforming conflict is in its gift.

A3.Our ability to stay buoyant in a rapidly changing global economy.

28. The rapidly growing ranks of middle-class consumers span a dozen emerging nations, not just the fast-growing BRIC countries,1 _{and include almost two billion people, spending a total}

of $6.9 trillion annually. Our research suggests that this figure will rise to $20 trillion during the next decade—about twice the current consumption in the United States.

Despite having strong global brands, multinational companies face challenging competition in emerging markets, as these economies already boast aggressive local players that have captured a significant portion of spending. Chinese beverage maker Hangzhou Wahaha, for example, has built a $5.2 billion business against global competitors such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo by targeting rural areas, filling product gaps that meet local needs, keeping costs low, and appealing to patriotism. McKinsey & Company 2010 (http://bit.ly/1bn5ywb)

29. While there is little doubt that China and the BRIC nations will win the battle for their own markets in delivering the staples, there will always be an appetite for overseas products, particularly as the middle classes grow and wish to distinguish themselves. The bigger picture within which Britain can be a favoured market will depend on its soft power – its capacity for relationship:

• whether or not it can respect and understand the BRIC markets on their own terms rather than as a passive recipient of traditional British goods

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good relationship with Scotland, Ireland, Wales remains important. Britain is a rich and diverse entity: in my view, a break up of the Union would damage Britain's image abroad in a number of ways.

• to what extent Britain welcomes China into the global arena rather than fears it. Britain is not an economic competitor but it does have political and social influence – it should put that to good use helping to encourage China's peaceful emergence • it is important to challenge the simplistic idea that any country supporting China's

peaceful emergence into the global arena, has given up on the fight against their human rights abuses. It is possible to hold both these goals at the same time but it requires a clear narrative – arising from multiple intelligences and some humility - to deliver the complexity of the relationship. These are the very skills that a

commitment to soft power can develop and deliver.

• Peer to peer relationships, discovered and grown on the internet, will be crucial to Britain's overseas markets in the future. The British government's investment in technology for British entrepreneurs – particularly smaller businesses delivering information and services – will be crucial.

A4. The freedom and potential of global citizenship – UK citizens abroad and foreign citizens in the UK

30. There are many who look back at the British Empire as a regrettable period of history, others as the scene of our greatest triumphs. Both views are irrelevant in the growing challenge that globalisation is bringing to everyone: it is already important and will increasingly be so that, for the safety and security of your citizens, your country is not considered a threat to others. In contradistinction, if your country has a lot of soft power, your citizens and their business will be welcome everywhere. If you doubt that compare how an Iranian national feels walking in the streets of a Northern British town to how a Brazilian feels.

31. Every country must find its place in the world by creating a narrative that binds the past and present in a way that confidently serves the emerging reality of rapid globalisation. Britain must build on its identity as a global centric nation: having moved out into the world in its past, it has now welcomed the world back into its own borders. There is no other multicultural city as successful as London in the world. We must build on that. It is quite possible that in the future other countries will not be flocking to Britain for its jobs and services because the call of the East will be much stronger as their markets grow

exponentially. It is our task to hold our nerve in this period of transition and continue to build and develop our soft power rather than lose our reputation for fairness and boldness in the interim.