In a commentary, SMU President Professor Lily Kong opined that soft power often determines whether tensions escalate, how long crises last, and how much economic damage they inflict, while hard power remains essential to deter aggression and manage worst-case scenarios, but when it dominates the strategic imagination, volatility rises and markets suffer. She said that soft power works differently; it shapes expectations, lowers baseline tensions and creates off-ramps in moments of crisis. She believes that Asia can seek to measure strength by the ability to threaten, or it can recognise that in a nuclear-armed, economically interdependent Asia, and the real test of power is credibility, restraint and attraction. She said that the conflicts visible today do not disprove the importance of soft power but underline how urgently it is needed.