There has been much debate recently on the possibility of a China-South Korea alliance. The “pro” arguments quite often begin by noting that China has been emerging rapidly in a multi-polar world, making a strategic competition or even stand-off between China and the United States more probable.

Ten years ago, Robert Kagan famously compared the relationship between the EU and the US to the one between Venus and Mars. Brussels would be the amicable face of the couple wielding its normative influence and soft power potential, in contrast with Washington's aggressive foreign policy. Recent developments, however, have shown that the EU might be giving up its soft politics for a more bellicose stance, at least on Russia.

It is easy to think of defence spending as building tanks, but it is also the optical equipment and computer technology that makes them work and which ends up having a commercial economic benefit. It can also fund innovative, scientific and other research, often at universities, that might not otherwise take place. That being said, there is no shortage of global economic innovation now, outside of defence, in areas such as stem cells, robotics, 3D printing or green technology. 

Here lies the vision of China's peaceful rise. It is a concept first put forward in 2003 by Chinese authorities as the country was gradually reinforcing its role in international affairs.  But this concept comes with many layers: Even while China is exporting its products all over the world, Beijing explains that it has no hegemonic ambitions.  Can China be a superpower that is fundamentally unintrusive, and not a threat for its neighbors?

Today, China faces two difficult options: On one hand, it can keep on pushing its territorial claims at the expense of regional stability and goodwill, appeasing nationalist elements back home. Alternatively, it can rein in hardline factions, sign up to a legally-binding Code of Conduct (CoC) in the West Philippine Sea, and emerge as a legitimate contender for regional leadership in the coming decades.

Shashi Tharoor is fond of narrating this apocryphal story to elaborate on how India is emerging as a “soft power”- as opposed to military might or “hard power”- through its many advances in science and technology and, more importantly, culture, of which the Indian film industry is a prominent component.

Pakistan is blessed with a vast pool of ingredients that constitute an ideal platform to project its soft power. Although mired with challenges to overcome violence, mismanagement and corruption, Pakistan still has a lot to offer to this world.

In the era of soft power, no one has any stature. The idea of the president of the United States influencing world affairs has now become as ludicrous as the idea of the British foreign secretary doing the same.