Joseph Nye's Soft Power and Hard power
I. Introduction In the field of International Relations, Joseph S. Nye Jr. has developed a theory about the concept of power he coined ‘soft power’ in his 1990 book Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power. A former United States assistant Secretary of Defense, and Dean of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government as well as the chairman of the US National Intelligence Council, Joseph S. Nye Jr. is a political scientist. Considered to be the National Security Advisor during the 2005 United States presidential election, Nye is one of the most recognized liberal theorists in the field of International Relations and foreign policy. More than four decades ago, Nye has published many works where the predominant theme is about the notion of power and success in world politics. Nye’s most recent publication was The Future of Power in 2011, however his most influential work, apart from the book he co-authored with Robert Keohane, Power and Interdependence (1977) , was Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power. In his 1990 book, Nye describes what the concept of ‘soft power’ with regards to the international relations and domestic affairs for nations. According to Nye, the nature of power is much easier to ‘experience’ than to conceptualize, and this is evident when he wrote, “…Power is like the weather. Everyone depends on it and talks about it, but few understand it…we first need to recognize some basic distinctions among the terms power.” Traditionally, in international politics the “strength of war” was seen as the only determining factor of great power. However, over time the world has changed, developed and improved, especially through technology and globalization. Similarly, the sources of power have also changed in regards to the type. Nye explains ‘soft power’ as a method that involves “attracting others to your agenda in world politics…getting others to want what you want,” essentially to obtain an outcome in “you
Bibliography: “America and the Middle East: Murder in Libya,” The Economist Newspaper Limited, September 15th, 2012. Armitage, Richard L., and Joseph S Beitz, Charles R. Political Theory and International Relations. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1979. Bohorquez, Tysha Colson, Philippine. “Soft Power Discourse and the Significance of European Union Foreign Policy Methods.” PhD diss., Dalhousie University, 2008. Hackbarth, James R Meisler, Stanley. When the World Calls: The Inside Story of the Peace Corps and it First Fifty Years. Boston: Beacon Press books, 2011. Nye, Jr., Joseph S -----. Peace in Parts; Integration and Conflict in Regional Organization. The United States of America: Little, Brown & Company Ltd, 1971. ----- -----. The Benefits of Soft Power: Working Knowledge. Boston: Harvard Business School, 2004. -----. The Future of Power. New York: PublicAffairs, 2011. -----. The Paradox of American Power: Why The World’s Only Superpower Can’t Go It Alone. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. ----- -----. The War on Soft Power. Foreign Policy, 2011. Peter, Susan, Michael J Taylor, A.J. P. The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, 1848-1918. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1954. Thornton, William H. “Back to Basics: Human Rights and Power Politics in the New Moral Realism.” International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Winter 2000), pp. 315-332 < http://www.jstor.org/stable/20020079> Viotti, Paul R Wilson, Ernest J. “Hard Power, Soft Power, Smart Power.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 616, No.1 (March 2008), pp. 110-124.