ARIFIANTO RIFKI KEUNGGULAN AMERIKA SERIKAT: “DARI SOFT POWER HINGGA DEMOCRATIC REALISM Politik dan Pemerintahan Amerika Serikat (2012)

Definisi “Soft Power” Definisi “Democratic Realism” Musuh Pemerintahan Amerika

Dalam abad informasi global, soft power harus menjadi prioritas utama dalam politik luar negeri Amerika Serikat. “Soft power is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments... [It] arises from the attractiveness of a country’s culture, political ideas, and policies.”

“American pop culture may be widely admired among young people, but the unpopularity of our foreign policies is causing the next generation to question American power.” Power tersebar dalam sebuah ‘permainan catur 3D’. Dalam konteks ini, “Soft power is particularly important in dealing with the issues that arise from the bottom chessboard of transnational relations.”

“America is a country that reaLly does have to be committed to values and to making life better for people around the world It’s not just the sword,, it’s the olive branch that speaks to those intentions..”

Menurut Krauthammer, ada empat tradisi utama dalam politik luar negeri AS: isolasionisme, liberal internasionalisme, realisme, dan globalisme demokratik. Globalisme demokratik berbahaya karena “its temptation to plant the flag of democracy everywhere.” Dalam jangka panjang, globalisme demokratik akan melemahkan semangat moral dan menggerus modal politik luar negeri AS.

Krauthammer merekomendasikan ‘realisme demokratik’, yang tepat sasaran, terpusat, dan terbatas, yang “intervenes not everywhere that freedom is threatened but only where it counts – in those regions where the defense or advancement of freedom is critical to success in the larger war against the existential enemy.”

Dewasa ini, musuh yang eksistensial itu adalah “Arab/Islamic radicalism.” Sebagai musuh, “Radical Islam’s obvious intent is to decapitate the American polity, cripple its economy and create general devastation.” Sementara Krauthammer percaya bahwa ‘‘Islam Radikal’’ berbahaya karena fanatisme dan tumbuh subur, Fukuyama tidak yakin bahwa ‘‘Islam Radikal’’ mempunyai daya tarik internasional dan ‘‘demokrasi pengetahuan.’’

Dalam konteks soft power, “the current struggle against Islamic terrorism is not a clash of civilizations but a contest whose outcome is closely tied to a civil war between moderates and extremists within Islamic civilization. The United States and other advanced democracies will only win if moderate Muslims win, and the ability to attract the moderates is critical to victory.”