3.1 – The state and globalisation
3.4 – Power and developments
3.6 – Comparative theories
The dispute between Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV is a useful example of soft power in international politics. Trump publicly attacked the Pope after Leo gave a speech criticising the war with Iran and called for peace, dialogue and coexistence. Trump responded by portraying the Pope as “weak” and ill-informed, especially on the issues of Iran and refugees/migration.
What makes this instructive as an example for global politics is that the Vatican, as the modern political manifestation of the formerly territorially extensive Papal States, has almost no conventional hard power. It cannot coerce major states militarily and has very limited economic leverage. Its influence depends instead on “soft power” – moral authority, symbolic status, transnational networks and agenda-setting capacity. When the Pope comments on war, migration or governance, he is trying to shape how political issues are understood rather than compel behaviour directly.
Because of the historical and cultural weight of the Catholic Church, this has an impact even beyond those who are followers of Catholicism. The Pope’s current Africa tour reinforces this point. Pope Leo linked peace to justice, anti-corruption and the responsibilities of political leaders when travelling through West Africa, and separatists in Cameroon even announced a temporary ceasefire during his visit. That does not show the Pope’s forcible control of events, but it does suggest an ability to influence legitimacy and political timing.
The Church’s role also perhaps signifies the limits of a fully state-centric realist model of global politics and international relations. Although the physical territory of the Church has been greatly diminished to a miniscule enclave within the city of Rome, the “Holy See” – the administrative government of the Catholic Church as an institution – still wields substantial influence in global politics.