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 against a military deal with the US for fear of being terror targets and the inability of Ambassador Nikki Haley to get a majority of the votes at the UN over the Jerusalem move seriously calls for more focus on soft power. The failure of great powers like the United States and the United Kingdom to use their military strength during the oil crisis in the 1970s following an embargo by the oil producing countries clearly showed the limits of hard power capability. Worse still, America did not translate its military might into victory during the Vietnam war and the current war in Afghanistan has no end in sight. Recent peace negotiations with the Taliban has come in too late with a lot of causalities on both sides.

The author argues that in situations where war is inevitable then its authorization should be sought from international institutions like the United Nations. Taking the example of the first gulf war in which America through a UN mandated coalition got Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait helped the United States and other coalition partners gain soft power which was the exact opposite when a unilateral decision was made by President George Bush to go after Iraq under the pretense of getting Weapons of Mass Destruction. The failure to find such weapons and the fact that they ignored the UN, made America look like an aggressor hence hurting her soft power in the Middle East.

My experience with what the author describes as soft power came in the form of TV programs and books. When I was about to join the university I felt the need to be more assertive and business minded due to a less promising job market which attracted me to TV programs like the “Apprentice” and later on “Shark Tank” as well as writings by Stephen Covey or even biographies like that of Lee Iacocca believing that in an interview it would give one an added advantage.   A lot of the negative coverage President Trump generates is swallowed up by what I read in his book ‘The Art of the Deal’ years before he started campaigning in which he claims negative coverage is better than no coverage. However, unlike before where CNN used to dominate world news, the likes of Al-Jazeera have now taken up a big share of coverage making it difficult to push a single narrative to the international public or community.

According to Nye, non-state actors like Al-Qaeda are using soft power even though negatively to convince those they need support from to sympathize with their cause hence the best way to counter that is to use soft power positively to bring out the good culture or values of a state which is many times undercut by use of force. He points out that the use of soft power through movies and pop culture helped to bring down the Soviet Union leading to the end of the Cold War as people started agitating for freedom and democracy.

When it comes to the economy and its associated strength, the use of sanctions has not always produced compellence or deterrence if the defiance of the likes of North Korea and Iran is anything to go by despite their economies being crippled. On the other hand, the use of economic power to rescue others the way America did with Western Europe after the Second World War commonly known as the Marshall Plan generated a lot of soft power, allowing the US to be of great influence in Europe since then.

I agree with the author that the information age has made it difficult to ignore soft power since many have more knowledge of what is happening in the US than ever before and can easily compare that to America’s policy positions in their respective countries. This book together with what I have read in the memoirs of Secretary Madeleine Albright and Secretary Condoleezza Rice have given me a greater perspective of the US foreign policy especially in circumstances where soft power has been successful like in the Kenyan case during the post-election violence.

However, there are situations where soft power alone cannot bring about the influence or change that is needed without a backup of hard power. A case in point is the Kosovo war where negotiations failed to stop the slaughter of ethnic Albanians under the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In as much as the author says war should be collectively agreed upon in international institutions, Russia and China were ready to veto military intervention in case the matter was to be voted upon in the UN Security Council which forced NATO to go it alone and end the genocide. Nevertheless, Nye argues that war should always be a last resort.

Finally, soft power may take long to attain if it is ever to be achieved hence making it difficult an option where quick results are needed. Appeasing Hitler’s Germany did not work, and the World ended up in the Second World War. More so penetrating closed communities in countries such as China with pop culture can be a tall order. That said, this is a great book to read and the ideas expressed are not only helpful but essential in state interactions.

References:

Wurtz, M. (2010). The Impact of Foreign Media on Perceptions of North Korea: A Textual

Analysis of Defector Testimonies and Experiences. Undergraduate Theses. 43.

Nye, J.S. (2004). Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. NY: Public Affairs.