Historian and University of Southern California Prof. Nicholas Cull visited Northwestern Thursday afternoon for a discussion on soft power and “reputational security” hosted by the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs.
Originally from the United Kingdom, Cull is an expert in soft power and public diplomacy worldwide. During Thursday’s event, he emphasized the importance of a country’s reputation abroad, and the importance of pushing back against threats to the collective reputation of the West.
“The dominant theory of reputation in the United States since the end of the Cold War has been this idea of a soft power, that you can use a positive reputation to get more in the world,” Cull said.
In 2023, he authored “Reputational Security: Refocusing Public Diplomacy for a Dangerous World,” and at the event, in conversation with Communication Prof. Erik C. Nisbet, he applied the concept of reputational security to recent developments in the international arena.
He explained how countries around the world work to boost their reputation in an effort to bolster their standing and security internationally, citing the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar as an example.
“The labor practices (in Qatar) had to be completely revamped (and) laws changed to be more in line with the best standards and to head off criticism,” Cull said. “If you just do the showcase event without the reform or with inadequate reform, it’s not going to build you the reputation.”
Cull’s talk drew NU students as well as attendees from the Chicago area. After the initial discussion, Nisbet opened the floor to them to ask questions.
Audience members asked about whether reputation is a zero-sum game, the intended audience of a country’s reputation-building efforts and about how cinema has historically been used as a tool to advance reputation, among other topics.
Chicago resident Bhanu Kappala attended the event by recommendation of a friend.
“I think the talk itself was pretty interesting,” Kappala said, although he added that disagreed with some of Cull’s points.
Buffett Institute Director of Global Communications and Engagement May Malone said the discussion was a follow-up to a Fall Quarter event on international polling featuring a speaker from the Pew Research Center.
Malone said inviting Cull to speak grew out of an interest in exploring President Donald Trump’s administration’s foreign policy “through the lens of reputational security.”
“Thinking about reputational security through that lens provides a glimmer of hope for understanding how we could leverage it to restore the rules based liberal international order,” Malone said.
In his talk, Cull warned that recent developments in domestic American politics are damaging its reputation abroad.
The Trump administration’s proposal to slash the State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs’ budget, which included programs that fostered cultural exchange, Cull said, is eliminating the institutions that advance the image of the U.S. as a model of democracy abroad.
“If the United States is no longer doing that and other countries are, then affections will develop in other places, and bonds will develop with other places,” Cull said.
The foreign aid void left by the United States, he said, is quickly being filled by other powers, including China.
Cull expressed disbelief at the Trump administration’s retreat from U.S. commitments abroad and its distancing of the U.S. from the rest of the world.
“It’s not just bringing the Trojan horse into Troy,” Cull said. “This is cutting down the gates of Troy, chopping them up for firewood, giving the firewood to your friends, and melting down the spears and giving those to your friends.”
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