I think 'soft power' needs credibility and the increasingly desperate use of euphemisms and sophistry by those in power and their apologists instead of tackling

I think 'soft power' needs credibility and the increasingly desperate use of euphemisms and sophistry by those in power and their apologists instead of tackling the issues head on is evidence some in the state have decided to empower themselves at the cost of the people and long professed values. Who can resist uncontrolled and unaccountable power? But too many people have cottoned on to what is happening. It's only when the next attempts at global grandstanding and posturing about human rights, dissent and democracy is met by open mockery and derision that most will realize the sheer scale of the loss. In the interim no amount of lipstick is going to help, credibility once lost is almost impossible to regain, and foreign policy will have to rely on 'transparent propaganda' and brute force.