The key question in assessing Europe’s power resources is whether the EU will retain enough cohesion to speak with a single voice on a wide range of international issues, or remain a limited grouping defined by its members’ different national identities, political cultures and foreign policies. The answer varies by issue. 

The Brazilian foreign policy establishment rightly sees relations with emerging countries, so-called South–South diplomacy, as one of the pillars of Brazil’s global strategy. However, the crisis has reduced the country’s soft power and economic tools to attract these nations.

While China’s foreign policy has traditionally relied on economic leverage and “soft power” diplomacy as its primary means of power projection, Beijing has also been actively exploiting concepts associated with strategic information operations as a means to directly influence the process and outcomes in areas of strategic competition.

All — hawks and doves, left and right — agree that the United States must prioritize diplomatic solutions and public diplomacy and refocus on human rights as a core priority. That means a better, smarter foreign affairs budget, recalling that all of our largest trading partners are former recipients of U.S. aid.

Cotton recommends we deploy “prosecutorial resources on Putin’s worldwide corruption racket”; “craft laws in the tradition of the Helms-Burton Act and the Alien Tort Claims Act to open U.S. courts to victims of Russian aggression, theft, and war crimes”; and utilize “public diplomacy and information strategies … [including taking] the lead in funding translation services to make Western media available in Russia.”