The Soft Power 30

Strategic communications firm Portland has released the 2016 edition of its Soft Power 30 Index. The annual report ranks countries on the strength of their soft power assets using 76 distinct measures including both objective data across six categories—government, culture, education, global engagement, enterprise and digital—and international polling from 25 countries representing every major region of the world. The United States took first place in this year’s index—edging out last year’s leader, the UK, by almost two points; rounding out the top five were Germany, Canada and France. New additions this year were Hungary, Russia and Argentina, who came in at 26^th, 27^th and 30^th, respectively. CPD Distinguished Fellow and report collaborator Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan emphasized the needs for countries, especially in Latin America, to tap into soft power as a means for advancing their national interests and enhancing domestic prosperity, wellbeing, and security.

The full list is available here.  

Photo by Angela N. | CC BY 2.0