American soft power often mirrors what we do with our hard power: our influence declines when we use the latter and increases when we don’t. The success of these video games is a big part of America’s global soft power. Trump’s hardline authoritarianism is devastating to American soft power. These were among the few soft power levers we once were able to pull. As America’s soft power diplomat, I saw the limits of what the government can do to promote favorability.

Source: The Guardian April 06, 2026 01:34 UTC