首页
登录
职称英语
At a recent debate in Washington about the rise of China, a U.S. career diplo
At a recent debate in Washington about the rise of China, a U.S. career diplo
游客
2025-01-20
37
管理
问题
At a recent debate in Washington about the rise of China, a U.S. career diplomat struck an optimistic note. Yes, China would probably soon overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy, he conceded, but the Middle Kingdom was unlikely to rival the United States anytime soon when it came to "soft power", or cultural influence and attractiveness.
Indeed, soft power is generally seen as a major asset in the foreign policy realm, helping countries achieve their goals without resorting to "hard power" — i.e.,
coercive
means. "Young people around the world," the diplomat confidently asserted, "still listen to American music, watch American movies and dream of coming to the United States."
Particularly in Latin America, that remains as true as ever, despite Donald Trump in the White House and a historic and irreversible shift of economic power away from the West towards Asia. The United States’ cultural influence and visibility stands unrivaled across Latin America. Chinese culture, by comparison, remains largely unknown and is usually met with indifference and a lack of interest. While some people are aware of China’s growing economic role in Latin America — it is already the largest trading partner of several of the region’s major economies, including Brazil, Chile and Peru — most would struggle to name a single Chinese contemporary singer, athlete or soap opera star. Latin America’s mass media busily reports even minor events in U.S. politics or cultural life, yet Chinese news remain the stuff of specialists.
Yet while U.S. soft power may provide some tangible economic benefits in Latin America — think of tourism to Disney World and New York, Netflix subscriptions and Starbucks sales — it has also shown to be a double-edged sword, particularly in the foreign policy realm. China’s
under-the-radar
approach in Latin America, by comparison, also brings important advantages, some of which may, paradoxically, be of greater strategic relevance in the long term. That is because, in a region traditionally concerned about U.S. meddling, strong cultural influence tends to inflate the perceived political and economic influence. While the United States’ de facto influence in Latin America has declined significantly over the past decade — partly due to China’s growing role in the region, but also because U.S. policymakers generally do not see the region as a priority — this change is barely reflected in the public debate, where the U.S. role remains outsized.
That often makes cooperating with the United States politically costly. When Brazil’s former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso reached, in 2000, a groundbreaking space cooperation deal with the United States, which would involve U.S. use of the Brazilian space agency’s launch site in Alcantara in Northern Brazil (its equatorial location allows reducing fuel costs of satellite launches by 30 percent), the opposition saw an opportunity to whip up anti-American nationalist sentiment by mischaracterizing the technology safeguards agreement (TSA) as a threat to Brazil’s sovereignty. Cardoso found himself accused of being an
entreguista
and canceled the project, which would have allowed Brazil to develop precious expertise in the area — increasingly important due to strong growth in the microsatellite sector crucial for GPS and internet communication. When the current government of Michel Temer took up the project recently, pressure again intensified, even though this time its successful conclusion is more likely. If the project partner had been China back then or today, it seems unlikely that the project would have faced as much political resistance.
This episode is starkly contrasted by how China can operate across Latin America and make strategic investments almost without any real concern for public opinion. When Chinese investors recently bought a third of Brazil’s electricity sectpr — a sector of tremendous strategic importance — the news barely made it to the front page of Brazilian newspapers. [br] According to the passage, the U.S. influence in Latin America has declined over the past decade mainly because______.
选项
A、China is replacing the United States in the region
B、China’s approach in the region is of great strategic relevance in the long term
C、the U.S. government tends to inflate the perceived political and economic influence in the region
D、the U.S. government does not attach so much importance to the region
答案
D
解析
细节题。根据题干关键词定位第4段第4句,可知美国在拉美地区影响力的下降有两个原因:中国在该地区的作用日益突显;美国的政策制定者未将该地区作为优先考虑的对象,故正确答案为D。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3920332.html
相关试题推荐
NorthKorea’s______ofnucleartestingtriggeredpoliticaldebatesandmassdem
AttheendofarecentfeastatRestaurantRevolutioninNewOrleans,Iorder
AttheendofarecentfeastatRestaurantRevolutioninNewOrleans,Iorder
AttheendofarecentfeastatRestaurantRevolutioninNewOrleans,Iorder
AttheendofarecentfeastatRestaurantRevolutioninNewOrleans,Iorder
AttheendofarecentfeastatRestaurantRevolutioninNewOrleans,Iorder
AttheendofarecentfeastatRestaurantRevolutioninNewOrleans,Iorder
Scientistsinvolvinginaseriousdebateabouthowtosolvetheproblemofgloba
Ireadrecentlythatmorethan80billionarticlesofclothingareproducedeach
AtarecentdebateinWashingtonabouttheriseofChina,aU.S.careerdiplo
随机试题
WhenTVnewsprogramsreportwarsordisasters,theeditorsrarelyusethem
CreativeDestructionofHigherEducationA)Highereducation
硝酸甘油治疗心绞痛的机制是:硝酸甘油促使心脏内皮细胞产生NO(一氧化氮),NO与
现代人力资源管理的三大基石不包括()。A.定编定岗定员定额 B.员工的绩效管
(注:顺差是指在国际收支上,一定时期内收入大于支出的差额;逆差指的是在国
一只挂钟的秒钟长30厘米,分钟长20厘米,当秒钟的顶点走过的弧长约为9.42米时
左图为给定的多面体,从任一角度观看,下面哪项不可能是该多面体的视图? A.如上
根据《宪法》和法律,关于我国宪法监督方式的说法,下列选项正确的是:()(201
慢性氟中毒的口腔表现是( )。A.氟牙症 B.氟骨症 C.先天性梅毒牙
按照有限理性决策模型,决策者的特征包括()。A.从途径—目标意义上分析,决策
最新回复
(
0
)