The American Spaces can be particularly useful in promoting U.S. soft power in the region. For example, the Instituto Cultural Argentino-Norteamericano, the largest BNC in Argentina, provides English-language courses to over 5,000 students each year and facilitates study abroad programs to the United States through the Department of State’s Education USA network. The BNC also works with over fifty private sector partners in the program design, monitoring, and evaluation of their corporate English programs. The interaction with the private sector in BNCs, especially in a country that recently announced it was “ready” to join the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, provides an opportunity for the United States to re-establish its commitment to the region’s growth and development in ways that China is unwilling to commit to. With over 120 American Spaces in eighteen countries across Latin America, the United States can leverage its partnerships to promote “people-to-people” diplomacy, while also ensuring a key tenet of democracy in the region: free access to information.

Closed societies, like that of China, are not able to use people to people exchanges or cultural diplomacy as effectively as open societies, as they are concerned with influence on their own citizens. The United States has the tools to boost its soft power in the Americas vis-à-vis China, but the real question is whether or not it will use them.

Adam Ratzlaff is a PhD candidate in International Relations at Florida International University. He has previously conducted political and economic analysis for a number of groups including Southern Pulse Correspondents, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank. His work has been featured in Global Americans, Charged Affairs, and the Diplomatic Courier among others. Ratzlaff holds an MA from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies (University of Denver) and a BA from Tulane University where he triple majored in International Relations, Economics, and Latin American Studies.

Pierina Anton is a college junior studying International Relations and Economics at Florida International University. Currently, Pierina is an intern with the International Rescue Committee in Miami, Florida where she assists in developing service plans for undocumented youth migrants and refugees. She previously served as Head Delegate of FIU’s Model United Nations team for the 2018-2019 school year, where she helped lead the team to its #1 position in North America.

Image: Reuters.