Book Review: Soft Power-The Means to Success in World Politics by Joseph Nye
“Soft power” is a term associated with political scientist Joseph Nye. He defines soft power as “the ability to shape the preferences of others,” or essentially when one country influences the desired outcomes of other states through persuasion, education, public opinion, and appeal of cultural ideals and customs. Nye compares this with “hard power,” which states harness when they use military force or economic pressure to force certain outcomes on the world stage (Wurtz, 2010). Let me admit that having gone through this book, I am inspired to lean more towards neo-liberal approach to international relations. This has been an eye-opener especially for some of us who highly rate America’s hard power. In the early chapters I had the feeling that the author was against military and economic strength but that seems not to be the case. What I have learnt is that military and economic power are essential, but they have their limits. The recent events where protests were held in Ghana aga