Golf and the Four (Five?) Types of National Power
Back in the 90's, I took a course covering geopolitics. It was outstanding, and I still remember the four types of national power:
- Diplomatic
- Intelligence
- Military
- Economic
Unsure if it would be possible for students to recall this list during an exam, the course designers devised a mnemonic: “DIME.” Given recent world events, however, I believe “DIMES” would be more appropriate, with the “S” standing for “soft power.”
We’ve been hearing a lot about soft power lately, but what is it? South Korea is said to have a lot of soft power due to K-pop, K-dramas, Korean “wave” movies, and K-beauty. Less well known than Parasite (Best Picture Academy Award Winner) and Blackpink (K-pop girl group) is that since the 1960’s, South Korea has enforced a domestic “screen quota” system requiring each theater screen to show domestic content for a certain number of days (currently 73).
Moreover, South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has been involved in promoting and even regulating K-pop. Obviously, the plots of Korean Wave films and the lyrics of K-pop songs are not dictated by government bureaucrats, but there is simply no way Korean entertainment would have reached its current heights without government support.
Perhaps soft power can be viewed as a symbiotic relationship between the creative sector of a nation’s economy and its government which allows artists, athletes, and entertainers a global reach that promotes a positive national image. Based on this definition, a government-connected media outlet endlessly spouting propaganda to foreign audiences is probably not accomplishing much of anything, but Radio Free Europe (originally funded by the Central Intelligence Agency), which broadcast jazz music to listeners behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War did effectively project American soft power.
Sports have long been a go-to soft power instrument although results have been mixed. Thanks in large part to Jesse Owens’s gold medal performances in four events, the track and field portion of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin failed to deliver the message its hosts wished to convey. In fact, even when Nadia Comaneci stunned the world in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, any benefit for Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu didn’t extend beyond the Eastern Bloc, and didn’t save him once the Berlin Wall fell.
There is no question the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is attempting to enhance its soft power. Until 2019, it was not possible to enter Saudi Arabia as a tourist. Now, as part of an attempt to diversify its economy away from oil, tourist visas are available online or on arrival to citizens of dozens of countries.
An even more sophisticated soft power play is Neom, an under construction, futuristic development in western Saudi Arabia with tourist, industrial, and educational components designed to be an international destination. When complete, it is supposed to house “The Line,” a linear city consisting of connected modules 1,600 feet high and 110 miles long.
However, despite what might be considered progress, Saudi Arabia remains an absolute monarchy that does not tolerate political dissent. Thus, according to some observers, the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s (PIF’s) decision to greenlight LIV Golf was a classic attempt at “sportswashing.”
These analysts believe the Saudi government was counting on the athletic abilities of LIV’s stable of professional golfers and the sport of golf itself to help rehabilitate its international image. Well, if that was the plan, it didn’t work. Without question, LIV has served as a lightning rod for criticism of the Saudi government’s human rights record.
It is also a stretch to view the LIV Golf concept as a play for soft power in general. No LIV golfers are Saudi. At the single LIV event which has been played in Saudi Arabia to date, there didn’t appear to be much of a gallery. While the PIF governor is known to be an avid golfer, and the Saudi government has begun encouraging its people to take up golf, those efforts will take time to pay off.
If the first rule of soft power is that it has to involve an indigenous cultural product like K-pop or jazz, there is no way a bunch of recently assembled, already famous foreign professional golfers can help achieve Saudi Arabia’s national goals. Ultimately, a nation’s soft power depends on the work of its own citizens.
So, if not for sportswashing or soft power, what is the purpose of LIV Golf and why is the PIF investing in the PGA Tour? Maybe LIV was created primarily to make a profit and, once the PIF grew confident in its golf management ability, decided to level-up and make a play for the PGA Tour.
After an inaugural season in 2022 with no TV deal, LIV tournaments are now available in the U.S. on the CW Network, and the size of LIV’s galleries seems to be growing. Virtually no business, no matter how well funded, generates profits right off the bat, so it could be a long term play. Under this scenario, LIV Golf continues indefinitely, its members will have the option of playing PGA Tour events, and the PIF collects revenue from both LIV and the Tour.
Alternatively, it’s possible LIV was a red herring when it debuted, intended primarily to draw marquee players away from a stodgy, “what have you done for me this week” PGA Tour and allow the PIF to muscle in on the Tour’s cultural status for geopolitical gain. If this is the case, LIV Golf shuts down within the next year or two, some of its members rejoin the PGA Tour, the Tour makes a few LIV-related changes at some venues (shotgun start, no-cut, 54 holes, branded teams) and tries to grow with its new PIF investment capital. Of course, all the money in the world won’t buy another Tiger, another Jack, or another Arnold, but maybe that won’t matter anymore.
Regardless of why the PIF funded LIV Golf, or whether LIV continues over the long term, America’s movers and shakers will enter pro-ams and sign up for sponsorships at their local PGA Tour stops in 2024 just like they always have. Going forward in this context, who is to say what introductions will be made and what types of business arrangements will be discussed during tournament weeks?
Ultimately, contacts and deals resulting from the PIF’s golf investment may prove more valuable to Saudi Arabia from both a financial and geopolitical perspective than any profits generated by action inside the ropes.
There is nothing soft power-ish about Saudi government involvement in professional sports well outside the Middle East. The moral of this story is that economic power, such as the means to force a tie-up with an organization like the PGA Tour, is hard power.
It is just as hard as the power wielded by any foreign ministry, intelligence agency, or military. Not many nations have economic power to the extent they can use it to significantly advance their national interests but, for those that do, the United States with its plethora of world-leading private enterprises has always presented a target-rich environment.
