The European Union has turned to ancient eastern mysticism, some thousands of years since Chinese mystics recorded their words of wisdom. Probably without realising it, modern day world politicians are seeing the value of Taoism. And those politicians have come up with a new name for it; they call it soft power. Those who know of Taoism have understood soft power for many years; to them it has always been known as yin.
It was the leading American political scientist Joseph Nye, who first coined the term soft power, defining it as: “the ability to get what you want by attracting and persuading others to adopt your goals”. This yin approach is in contrast to a more aggressive form of world governance, what might be called hard power or to the Taoist yang. The two clearest examples of these opposing forces are offered by the United States and the European Union. Let’s take America to begin with. The nature of its foreign policy could be described as aggressive, or masculine. When another country infringes on America’s territory in some way, America brings its brute force down with a vengeance. The invasion of Iraq would be a good example of this approach in action. When the terrorist attacks took place on 9th September 2001 President Bush’s immediate response was to declare the attacks “an act of war” and to look around for a country to invade. The US response of invading Iraq was almost un-thinking, and it turned out Iraq had nothing to do with the terrorists in any case. And America’s invasion didn’t solve the problem – the “war on terror” simply generated more terrorism; immediately after the invasion of Iraq, the UK government offices in Westminster were placed on a high state of alert for terrorist attack. The American approach was combative, aggressive, forceful and masculine; it had the qualities of yang. The European Union on the other hand, employs soft power to attract countries from outside the EU, and it rewards those states who adopt the EU’s goals. It wields power to great effect, but the EU’s power is passive, nurturing, receptive and feminine – these are understood to be the yin qualities in Taoism. The member states of the EU benefit from maintaining good human rights records, stable democracies, a prosperous internal market and good governance; neighbouring countries see the benefits of membership and are keen to enrol. The year 2004 saw the largest ever influx of new members and others are currently lining up; the Balkan states, Belarus, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Georgia, the Ukraine and Turkey have all recently been keen to become EU members. Europe can do this where the US fails, as the United States cannot offer membership to neighbouring countries. Wielding soft power has the bonus of not going to war; there are no deaths and no suffering.
The states who are attracted to the EU must demonstrate appropriate policies. In effect the EU manages to change the internal policies of countries who are not yet in the EU. It is the promise of inclusion which generates this.
The evidence of the effectiveness of soft power, or yin, is there in front of us. French-German enmity left from the Second World War has dissolved to nothing, and even Polish-German differences are quietly passing into history. The idea of war in western or central Europe is now inconceivable. That this has been achieved is quite literally a miracle, but it shows what can be achieved where there’s a will. Europe’s soft power influences other aspects of world politics aside from that of peace. The Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is having wider impact thanks to it receiving the support of the EU.
Slowly within Europe, the divisions between the member countries are dissolving away. There is free travel and free trade, and little by little those lines on maps which define the countries are having less and less meaning. The truth is that the boundaries between countries are meaningless; they only exist because we say they do. Europe has shown the feasibility of eliminating countries. When John Lennon wrote “Imagine there’s no countries,” in his song Imagine, many people saw him as an idealistic dreamer, but he was simply ahead of his time, and Europe is making Lennon’s dream come true.
What needs to be asked now is how can the European approach be used to create world peace? Let’s apply Kant’s philosophical test – how would the world look if every country was allowed in to the European Union? Geographically, of course, this makes no sense – but could ever more countries be included into the EU market and political system? If every country behaved as the European member states do, there would certainly be no wars. The EU has shown the first glimpses of a world without countries. As more and more countries are invited in to such a healthy Union, the Union becomes ever stronger and ever more attractive, and in time perhaps the European government will cease to be European and will become a global government. We may find in the future that the EU provides an model for other continents to copy and we may see African or Asian Unions emerge, for example.
The European Union’s Taoist credentials go further that this. Our Truth Prime Directive, epitomises Taoist practice. By exerting an ego on circumstances or people, one creates problems; our Directive sums this up with the words: No person shall coerce any other person. For example, a person may be a natural musician. If their parents, or school force them into work as an engineer say, then the world loses the musical gifts that person has, and the person is likely to become unhappy as they know deep down they are not being true to themselves. The EU applies this fundamental Taoist principle to its people - the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights states:
“Article 10.
Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
Everyone has the right to freedom of
thought, conscience and religion. This right includes the freedom to
change religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others
and in public or in private, to manifest religion or belief, in worship,
teaching, practice and observance. The right to conscientious objection
is recognised, in accordance with the national laws governing the exercise of
this right.”
In comparison with the laws of many non-EU countries, this is extremely radical. For example, an Islamic country such as Saudi Arabia can not become a member of the EU. Muslims claim that once a person converts to Islam, they can never cease to be a Muslim; this would contradict the rights of a person to change their religion as insisted on in Article 10. Similarly, the EU asserts that we have the right to be treated the same regardless of gender. In Saudi Arabia women are not allowed to drive; again this violates the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The EU’s soft power will be a continuous and growing force for change on countries such as Saudi Arabia.
The EU gives up power by not dictating to its people. And curiously, by giving up power, the EU has gained power. The EU lives the Taoist principle – it does not exert an ego on its people by telling them what religion they should ascribe to. This allows the people to be free, and happy, and so they will want to remain members. This soft power will hopefully continue to be a growing and powerful force for good.