With the State Department’s new vows to halt visa interviews for all foreign students until it beefs up its social media screening and to “aggressively revoke” the visas of Chinese students, the United States is heading down a precarious path. By doing so, it risks ceding its longstanding global advantages in terms of “soft power.”
Soft power, wrote Joseph Nye, the former assistant secretary of defense who coined the term (and who passed away in early May), “is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments. It arises from the attractiveness of a country’s culture, political ideals, and policies.”
With its broad-brush approach, the State Department’s crackdown on international students will likely harm America’s interests by tarnishing its image abroad and convincing the best minds around the world to study elsewhere. This will leave us less enriched by the contributions of students and other newcomers to our society.
To be sure, Washington is wise to be vigilant about anyone seeking to enter the United States. In March, the annual U.S. intelligence community threat assessment warned that “A diverse set of foreign actors are targeting U.S. health and safety, critical infrastructure, industries, wealth, and government.” These actors include “Terrorist and transnational criminal organizations,” “cyber and intelligence actors,” and “[s]tate adversaries.”
At the same time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio makes a compelling case that Washington has good reason to revoke the visitor status of international students who promote anti-semitism and shut down universities as part of anti-Israel protests.
Those threats to national security and domestic tranquility, however, do not obviate the need for the United States to wield all the weapons in its soft power arsenal to promote its interests on the world stage.
To that point, the intelligence community also wrote that “Russia, China, Iran and North Korea—individually and collectively—are challenging U.S. interests in the world” not only by “attacking or threatening others in their regions” but also by “promoting alternative systems to compete with the United States, primarily in trade, finance, and security.”
That’s where soft power comes in. As our adversaries promote their “alternative systems,” we have vast resources to compete effectively with them.
Especially since America’s rise to global leadership after World War II, soft power has included federal efforts to promote democracy, spur development, and relieve suffering. The reach of American exchange programs, films, television, and art, as well as the prestige of our scientific, technological, and medical breakthroughs, expose others to the benefits of our open society.
Such soft power has strengthened our alliances, enhanced our appeal to non-aligned nations, boosted U.S. trade, expanded foreign investment in America, increased the profits of U.S. companies, and spurred tourism.
American higher education—long the envy of the world—has been a key component of our soft power. Some 1.1 million international students studied at U.S. colleges and universities in the 2023–24 academic year—a 7 percent increase over the previous year—including a record-high number of graduate students. Just over half of the 1.1 million came from India or China. Still, large numbers also came from South Korea, Canada, Taiwan, Vietnam, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Nepal, and Mexico.
The State Department’s new moves build on a foundation of attacks on international students in recent weeks. The administration revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll international students (the largest cohort of which comes from China) and is expanding the reasons why it might strip the legal status of international students nationwide, laying the groundwork for their deportation. In response, some international students left the country on their own; others went into hiding.
None of this bodes well for America’s reputation abroad, as its key adversary is only too happy to point out. Competing with the United States for global influence, Beijing must be savoring its good fortune.
The crackdown on Chinese student visas, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, “exposed the lie of so-called freedom and openness that the U.S. has always advertised, and will only further damage the U.S.’s own international image.”
Normally, some foreign students return home after their studies, but others stay, attracted by America’s open economy, democratic system, and cultural offerings. They encourage family and friends to visit or immigrate if they can, spreading the good word about America and, in turn, expanding its global influence.
Now, an education consultant in Beijing told The Washington Post, many of her student clients are “applying to universities in other countries—including England and Singapore—due to the uncertainty.”
The United States can surely find a way to address its legitimate security concerns without shooting itself in the foot at a time when its leading adversaries are working together to upend U.S. global leadership.
Lawrence J. Haas is a Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council and the author of, among other books, Harry and Arthur: Truman, Vandenberg, and the Partnership That Created the Free World.