Joseph Nye said: “Soft power is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than thorough coercion.” The media often plays a key role in today’s international conflicts. Basically, the media takes two opposed and different roles. It takes an active role in conflicts and increases violence, or it stays out of the conflict and remains independent, hence contributing to conflict resolution and violence alleviation. Furthermore, the role played by the media in conflict resolution and the phases before or after conflict is determined by a set of complex factors, such as the relationship between the media and actors in the conflict and the level of independence that those in power have allowed the media. Experts in the media field assert that the media as a soft power influences the public’s opinion and views about issues or subjects. During the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union, these states competed on artistic excellence in terms of symbolic music, films, theater, novels and so on. In other words, these two countries used soft power rather than hard power in their political and cultural struggle, and the media acted as testimonials for each empire’s claim to better represent the future of humanity. This form of cultural competition was regarded as civilized. The US employed soft power resources to attract the Soviet people to American culture, the American lifestyle, and to the capitalist system. The US won the cold war by the use of a containment strategy that combined the use of both hard and soft power. The United States did not use soft power as a means of gaining ephemeral popularity, but for obtaining the outcomes that it wanted. As the Soviet Union continued to buffer its boundaries with Western Europe, America pledged support and aid to countries that were threatened by the Soviet Union. Secondly, the US also provided billions of dollars to economically and politically assist countries faced with political instability. All these efforts (which used soft power tactics) were mainly intended to block avenues that could be used by the Soviet Union to invade countries that were politically unstable. In its political campaign against the Soviets, the US used the media to reach out to and attract people in the Soviet republics of Eastern Europe. This was through dozens of American radio stations directed toward those countries, and through Hollywood films that glorified American culture and linked it to freedom, openness and democracy. Edwin Samuel, a spokesman for the British government in the Middle East and North Africa said: “One of the lessons learned in Britain is that peace requires communication with others and the use of soft power in the media and other areas.” In recent times, social media has made use of mobile and web-based technologies to turn effective communication into interactive dialogue. Social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and so forth, is being extensively used for communication purposes. The important role played by Twitter in the events of the Arab Spring made it clear that this new medium has become a form of popular diplomacy, which can directly reach people and deliver a message or opinion without relying on media organizations. This is precisely what has been done by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who relies on Twitter to deliver his messages to Americans and other peoples of the world.

Dr. Naif Al-Otaibi