FOLLOW US
A. Lu: A New Era of Soft Power
Written by Dr. Annette Lu, Former Vice President, Taiwan
Thursday, February 18, 2010
UPF International Leadership Conference
Seoul, Korea, February 2010
Unofficial notes from presentation
We are here to discuss not how to fight but how to stop fighting. The theme of this conference is that all the world is one family under God.
Regrettably, the reality of human history is different. The Second World War spanned three continents and three oceans. It was a war of ideology and a triumph of democracy over dictatorship.
What I am most proud of is my commitment to the policy of soft power. Soft power is different from the tradition of hard power. Hard power has created economic exploitation. Soft power reaches out to others and involves them in partnership.
Hard power should no longer be the measure of a country’s success. In recent years I see evidence of the effectiveness of soft power in the advancement of human rights, democracy, peace, love, and technological innovation. This is what I refer to as soft power. South Korea is a good example of the fruits of soft power. Without democracy and peace, there is no true prosperity.
All of us are temporary passengers on the earth. We do not own this earth. We are temporary stewards of it. We must love and help each other. We must cultivate a culture of peace and bring in a new era of soft power.