OPINION: What’s in a flower? If you guessed ‘diplomatic soft power’, well done.

During Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s first overseas trip in two years, Singapore named an orchid after her: Dendrobium Jacinda Ardern.

Singapore began honouring state visitors and leaders by naming orchids after them in 1956, to create goodwill and foster better ties. There are now more than 200 ‘VIP orchids’ at the National Orchid Garden.

Singapore’s orchids are an exemplar of “soft power”, a term created by Joseph Nye in the 1980s to describe the ability of a country to appeal to others through non-coercive methods: culture, political values and policies. It’s distinct from “hard power”, where countries use their military and economic might – and New Zealand frankly doesn’t have much of that.

Soft power helps countries maintain good relationships with others; important when it comes to understanding each other in times of global uncertainty and instability.

Today there are international ranking systems measuring soft power through various mechanisms such as surveys and tallies of countries’ cultural institutions, Olympic medals and business brands.

Though different countries top each list, European countries and the United States have tended to take the top places.

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In Asia, Japan and South Korea are repeatedly seen as leaders in soft power. South Korea’s K-pop and K-dramas – part of the Hallyu (Korean wave) phenomenon – are frequently cited as relatively recent soft power success stories. Japan’s government has used the term “Cool Japan” to promote the country through pop culture, just as there was Cool Britannia in the 1990s.

But soft power is more than pop culture. Pre-Covid, the 2019 Soft Power 30 report from communications consultants Portland noted that Japan’s hosting of the G20 Summit and the Rugby World Cup had helped strengthen the country’s soft power, but low scores for government trust and gender equality had contributed to a downgrading of its global ranking from fifth highest to eighth.

The same index ranked New Zealand as 17th, noting that its reputation for good government was “the bedrock upon which New Zealand’s soft power is built”.

More recently, responses to Covid have played a role in soft power rankings. Consultancy firm Brand Finance’s 2022 Global Soft Power Index, released in March, gave China the highest ranking in Asia, and fourth overall. China ranked first globally in the “business and trade pillar” and Brand Finance noted it had donated personal protective equipment and vaccinations to other countries.

“Though China’s performance may be a surprise to some in the Western world, it will have been expected across many developing countries,” it said.

Of New Zealand, Brand Finance noted its pandemic track record “continues to be recognised as exemplary, but the decline of the nation’s mental and physical availability around the world has caused its score to fall in other areas”.

I heard a similar message recently when talking to the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s honorary advisers. They acknowledged that New Zealand’s soft power in the region had been built over decades, and said the star power of Ardern was giving New Zealand greater leverage in the region. But they also advised it was vital for New Zealand be present and to re-establish its links, and spoke of the value of educational and youth ties.

It’s fun to imagine what New Zealand’s equivalent of Singapore’s orchid might be, if it had one. Rugby balls? Dairy farms? Dancing Kiwifruit? Chocolate fish? Manuka honey? Meat pies?

But the bigger question is how we want to be seen in the region as we look ahead, and in a new environment.

Research released by the New Zealand Story group in late 2021 revealed shifts in how our key trading partners’ perceptions of New Zealand changed over the course of the pandemic. While some including Australia, China and the US saw New Zealand as “progressive, inclusive and decisive”, others (including Japan) were forming impressions that we were isolated and unfamiliar.

Of Japan’s impressions, New Zealand Story said: “New Zealand is admired for its beauty and laid-back nature, but in some ways behind the times.”

Meanwhile, “India perceives us as a highly desirable place, but often out of reach”. It’s clear the lack of direct flights is a very real constraint.

Alongside good governance (thank you, the New Zealand public service), much of New Zealand’s historic soft power has arguably been gained through actively building people-to-people and educational links. Alumni of the Colombo Plan continue to be advocates for New Zealand right across Asia. But that programme stopped a few decades ago now.

At a time when larger countries are flexing their diplomatic hard power, New Zealand’s ability to effectively deploy our soft power is even more important. It’s clear from the trip to Singapore and Japan that the Prime Minister is a key part of that. But alone it’s not sufficient. New Zealand’s businesspeople, artists, athletes, students, academics, officials and others are also all key parts of New Zealand’s soft power.

The message I’ve heard from our friends in Asia recently is that we need to once again be in the region, rebuilding our soft power. It’s all we really have, and Covid means it is simply not as strong as it once was.