Britain’s soft power brings influence in the Middle East

Despite the naysayers, Global Britain lives on. At this critical inflection point for geopolitics and the international order, the Britain of the 21st Century still has a major role in shaping and responding to world events – greater than GDP share or population size might suggest. In playing its part on the world stage, Britain has a tool that is too often underestimated – our so-called ‘soft’ power. The government’s Integrated Review of foreign, development and defence policy recognised this, and reconfirmed Britain’s commitment to the global community. If we really believe in Britain as a force for good in the world then how we use our soft power in pursuing freedom and democratic values is crucial.

It matters to the UK population at large, too. A recent survey by the British Foreign Policy Group (BFPG) found that only 5% said they were ‘uninterested’ in the UK’s foreign policy. Turbulent geopolitics has heightened concerns amongst the public about Russia, China and how security abroad affects our security at home. How we respond to these threats matter.

In a time of international polycrises, it has perhaps never been more important that we use our strengths and global influences to shape the world, for the benefit of all. This is not about being a ‘global policeman’ but nor is it right that we concern ourselves only with what happens on our own shores. What happens elsewhere has a direct impact on our own prosperity and security.

I saw at first hand, in a visit to Jordan in July 2023, how our soft power and influence are being used in practice. Just 20km from the border with Syria, the Za’atari refugee camp houses 85,000 of more than 1 million people who have crossed the border since the 2012 crisis. Za’atari is a juxtaposition of transition and permanence, since whilst those there desperately pray for a time when they can return home they are rebuilding the lives they once had, and looking to the future.

More than half of those living in Za’atari are children, and they have the same dreams and aspirations as the young people for whom I work in the UK education system on a daily basis. The British Council is one of the UK’s greatest exports, but perhaps not one of its best known.

They have been working, through their Connecting Classrooms programme, to support the young people in the camp in facilitating learning, and giving them a wider view of the world into which they will grow up. But there is more to do, especially with school enrolment rates among refugees falling when they reach secondary school age.

But the British Council plays another role in Jordan. Their work in English language teaching, teaching 5,000 students each year – across a range of different age groups each with their own motivations to learn the language – has expanded the horizons of generations into pursuing their aspirations globally. I saw at first hand their work with young officers in the Jordanian army, who are learning English before they come to Britain to train at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. Like their Commander in Chief King Abdullah, who trained there in the 1980s, successive generations of Jordanian army officers have trained at Sandhurst, and so the ‘soft’ reach of the British Army reaches far beyond deployment of boots on the ground.

Jordan itself faces significant challenges, not least in the availability of water and other natural resources to meet the demands of its growing population of 11 million, which includes an estimated 1.3 million Syrian refugees. Geopolitically, Jordan must hold the conflicting factions of the Middle East – and in doing so has a major role in ensuring that peace in that region holds and develops. In that respect the support of the UK government, in training the Jordanian military for example, has a direct impact in ensuring a more peaceful world.

And that makes us safer at home, too. There is a direct and obvious correlation between the stability of the world and the safety of UK citizens. In the survey by the BFPG, three quarters recognised that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a direct threat to UK security, and even more recognised the economic consequences we would face as a result. The same would be true if the fragile truce in the Middle East was to be lost. So, our influence through soft power is making us safer.

Returning my thoughts to Za’atari, the point that hit home most was a child – about the same age as my son, who – with the help of the British Council and as a result of UK development funding – wanted to learn English ‘to give him more chances in the world’. A Global Britain must surely support such a desire.

Perhaps soft power is not so soft, after all.