The Routledge Handbook of Soft Power, 2nd Edition

1 TAKING A MEASURE OF ATTRACTION-BASED INFLUENCE (PART I OVERVIEW)

Naren J Chitty

DOI: 10.4324/9781003189756-2

Introduction

Reflecting on the mediasphere, one could be forgiven for thinking that the incidence of the term ‘soft power’ in media is immeasurable. Perhaps it is, but instant measurement is possible in limited areas. Google yielded 1,650,000,000 results for ‘soft power’ in 0.36 seconds at 11.50 AM AEST on 19 September 2022.¹ This was the morning of the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II who has been described by CNN as ‘a unifying force, wielding her soft power delicately and discreetly with the singular aim of keeping together the Union and the vestiges of the Empire, the Commonwealth’ (Robertson 2022). The brief quote has some ...