David McWilliams: Ask not what your Irish-American cousins can do for you; ask what you can do for your Irish-American cousins

Hard power is the traditional power of armies and trade wars. Unlike soft power, hard power is the power of size. Soft power is the power of imagination and creativity, which can be expressed in arts, culture and branding. Soft power exists inside the heads of other people; it's what people of other nationalities think of that nation. It's a way of getting other countries on your side. At its extreme, it's a way of getting other countries to do what you want without invading them. An example of American soft power is 1980s rock'n'roll seeping into the heads of…