Jovanovic: Soft power doesn't have a huge political impact, but we should use it for our conscience

The means of soft power have been used in the West for decades, but the views of even very well-known public figures like Dua Lipa or Rita Ora are unlikely to influence anyone to change their stance on Kosovo, Andrea Jovanovic from the Institute for Political Studies emphasizes for Kosovo Online. According to her, even if an average American Googles "Is Kosovo the heart of Serbia or Rita Ora", his voice in America today doesn't mean anything.

The fact is that soft power has been used in the West for many years, and in this society of spectacle - involvement in campaigns by various people who are not specialized in political theory or political science - in that sense, this is not surprising at all, says Jovanovic, adding that she is not sure how much it helps Kosovo's political goals.

"It's a slightly autistic bubble - they are addressing people who have already decided on this issue. It's not like Rita Ora will change Russia's stance on that issue. And those who will hear her already think that way. So, it's 'preaching to the priest' - addressing someone who is already on the line. In that sense, I don't see that it has a very great effect from our perspective. Much more problematic is how it affects people here with us, at least that part that still believes in that wonderful, morally superior West that kills millions of people from century to century. Those things don't irritate me too much, nor do I think they have a very great effect, except to sell newspapers, etc. So, maybe they have that commercial effect", our interlocutor says.

She recalls that opinions are always formed based on the media to which we belong, nationality, culture, political goals, etc. In this particular case, even if there is direct organized lobbying by the so-called Kosovo Government, she "doesn't think it changes much, because public figures might act similarly without it".

Moreover, Jovanovic wonders what Kosovo or Serbia even means to the average American.

"There are plenty of internet jokes about it, but the fact is that, except for New York and Los Angeles, everything in between is a pretty closed situation. Americans only deal with America. Unless there is a huge external enemy like the USSR, as it somewhat is today with Russia and Putin, but beyond that... Another thing, even if it changed the opinion of an average American who might Google whether Kosovo is the heart of Serbia or Rita Ora, his voice in America today means nothing. Now, this is the whole perspective that what the people and ordinary people think actually affects the political decisions of their government, especially when we talk about the foreign policy of the US, which has been undemocratic from the very beginning", our interlocutor emphasizes.

Despite the mentioned, she believes that we should take the aspects of soft power more seriously, "not as a response to what anyone else is doing but for ourselves, for our conscience".

"Absolutely, everything that contributes to reminding the whole world of what is happening here now – the precedent, the violation of international law, the bombing of our country in 1999, which was a rehearsal for many things that would happen later – yes, we absolutely need to take on that role and understand that we were pioneers and insist on that through all possible channels. The other problem is that our cultural scene is pretty much occupied by the West, and then auto-occupied, auto-colonial, so unfortunately, they often do completely opposite things, and that is what is a much bigger problem. Perhaps the state should deal much more with it, just as a counterweight to the state of our so-called cultural scene today", Jovanovic concludes.