Soft Power

From the pre-eminent scholar of foreign policy, the classic work that defined soft power

“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

Joseph S. Nye, Jr., coined the term “soft power” to describe a nation’s 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 its culture, political ideals, and policies.

Hard power remains crucial in a world of states trying to guard their independence. But Nye argues that soft power—diplomacy, economic assistance, trustworthy information—is essential as well in securing America’s national interests. One of the most influential books on foreign policy ever written, Soft Power offers vital guidance in an age of geopolitical turmoil.

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