Culture Wars: Spheres of Influence in International Relations Jorlen Garcia and Zoya Nawaz

In this episode, Dr. Anderson, a South Korean media studies and popular culture expert at George Mason University, tells us how Hallyu - or the Korean Wave - led to the globalization of Korean culture. We discuss how K-pop music and Korean dramas gained worldwide popularity, analyzing how the entertainment industry works, how Korean cultural influence is exported abroad, and how this led to the country growing from a relatively small state to a global influencer.

In this episode, we discuss how China has used cultural spheres of influence to rise on the world stage and its effectiveness with a renowned expert on Chinese politics, Professor Minxin Pei. Using mediums such as Chinese cinema and Confucius Institutes, we analyze if China will ever surpass the U.S. as a cultural powerhouse and how it differs as an authoritarian state in appealing its culture to other countries.

We sit down with the Los Angeles Times sports columnist, Dylan Hernández, to talk about how sports acts as a catalyst to soft power using Japan as a case study. We dive into a variety of issues surrounding sports in international relations, including the Tokyo Olympics with host country advantage in international sporting events, as well as how sports embody a country's spirit, values, and reputation.