Education Diplomacy and the Shifting Landscape of Global Influence: Soft Power Strategies in the Post-Pandemic Era

This study investigates how global powers have recalibrated their education diplomacy strategies as instruments of soft power in the post-pandemic era. Using a mixed-methods comparative design, it analyzes longitudinal data (2000–2024) across ten countries—including China, the United States, the European Union, India, and Africa—to assess the impact of scholarship programs and digital diplomacy initiatives on inbound student mobility and soft power performance. Anchored in Nye’s Soft Power Theory and extended through the Public Diplomacy 2.0 framework, the findings reveal that digital engagement significantly enhances the effectiveness of traditional education diplomacy tools, especially when regionally contextualized. China’s digital-first approach, India’s rising influence in the Global South, and the EU’s normative model illustrate diverse pathways of soft power projection. The study introduces a novel Soft Power Index tailored to education diplomacy and concludes that digitally mediated education has become a critical arena for global influence in a multipolar world. Keywords： Education Diplomacy， Soft power, Public Diplomacy 2.0, International Student Mobility, China-US–EU comparison， Digital engagement, Post-pandemic Global Influence