'America first' erodes US' soft power

In the era of globalization, soft power is crucial for spreading a country's influence across the world and an important component of its comprehensive national power. Unlike hard power, which depends on military and economic might, soft power is shaped mainly by a country's culture, education, political values, diplomacy and foreign aid.

According to Joseph Nye, a Harvard political science professor who coined the term in 1990, soft power is "the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion".

The United States has established its hegemony in the world based on not only its hard power, but also its soft power. Of late, however, the US' soft power has been waning.