Soft Power - by Joseph S Nye (Paperback)

About the Book

What must the United States do to remain the global superpower and stop alienating the rest of the world? The author of the bestselling "The Paradox of American Power" has one clear answer: soft power.

Book Synopsis

Joseph Nye coined the term "soft power" in the late 1980s. It is now used frequently--and often incorrectly--by political leaders, editorial writers, and academics around the world. So what is soft power? Soft power lies in the ability to attract and persuade. Whereas hard power--the ability to coerce--grows out of a country's military or economic might, soft power arises from the attractiveness of a country's culture, political ideals, and policies.

Hard power remains crucial in a world of states trying to guard their independence and of non-state groups willing to turn to violence. It forms the core of the Bush administration's new national security strategy. But according to Nye, the neo-conservatives who advise the president are making a major miscalculation: They focus too heavily on using America's military power to force other nations to do our will, and they pay too little heed to our soft power. It is soft power that will help prevent terrorists from recruiting supporters from among the moderate majority. And it is soft power that will help us deal with critical global issues that require multilateral cooperation among states. That is why it is so essential that America better understands and applies our soft power. This book is our guide.

Review Quotes

"A mixture of a general primer on the topic and an appeal for more use of this tool of foreign policy." --The Economist

"As brilliant as it is timely, Professor Nye's book is must reading for anyone who cares about the success of America and the world." --Madeleine K. Albright

"Coined by Nye in the late 1980s, the term 'soft power'--the ability of a country to persuade others to do what it wants without force or coercion--is now widely invoked in foreign policy debates. This short book reintroduces the idea and argues for its relevance in forming post-September 11 U.S. foreign policy." --Foreign Affairs

"Nye combines a theoretical argument about the nature of power in the modern, interdependent world with a practical critique of the unidimensional vision of the Bush administration, drunk on its image of military prowess and blind to what his subtitle calls the means to success in world politics." --The Washington Post

"Policy makers who are reshaping America's world role and contemplating the decline of American prestige will find Joseph Nye's Soft Power indispensable." --Dallas Morning News

"This is an indispensable book. . . . Nye's careful analysis of the shortcomings of unilateralism and reliance solely on military power . . . is strong, all the more so because it is virtually devoid of partisanship." --Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Joseph S. Nye, Jr., (1937-2025) served as dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and as Chairman of the National Intelligence Council and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Clinton administration. He was the author of several books, including Bound to Lead and The Future of Power.