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Essay on The Means To Success in World Politics

Ever since the United States existed, in fact even before the country was formed, force has been used to remove barriers and challenges. America's history records one war after another, after another. Today, the situation does not appear much differently. Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld and others who agree with the present state of affairs assert that The United States is strong enough to do as it wishes with or without the world's approval and should simply accept that others will envy and resent it. The world's only superpower does not need permanent allies; the issues should determine the coalitions, not vice-versa (Nye, 2004). With this opinion firmly footed, it is not surprising that Rumsfeld does not agree with the "soft power" hypothesis of Joseph Nye former Assistant Secretary of Defense and Dean of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government that states that America's approach for the 2000s should be "co-opting people rather than coercing them."

In his book Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics, Nye describes "soft power" as "the ability to get what you want from the attractiveness of a country's culture, political ideals, and policies." When America's policies are recognized as legitimate by other countries, soft power is enhanced. Historically, he recalls, America has had a great deal of soft power: President Roosevelt's Four Freedoms in Europe after WWII, Radio Free Europe, Chinese students creating a replica of the Statue of Liberty in Tiananmen Square, and, most recently, liberated Afghans in 2001 asking for a copy of the Bill of Rights. Soft Power does not mean, Nye argues, what others have sarcastically noted since he first used the term: the influence of Coca-Cola, Hollywood, blue jeans and money (x-xi).

The dictionary defines power as "the capacity to do things." However, the application of power to get things done can range from "might is right" to Mahatma Ghandi non-violence. Soft power, explains Nye, rests in the ability to shape the preferences of others (5). The strong leader does not coerce, but rather leads by example and support. One person can make another do something by threatening, punishing and restricting and setting unattainable goals. However, a person can instead "appeal to my sense of attraction, love, or duty in our relationship and appeal to our shared values about the justness of contributing to those shared values and purposes," (7) explains Nye.

Nye believes that much of what is occurring in international politics today, where it is continually questioned "whose story wins?" depends on credibility. In a world where everyone is inundated with information, what really matters is not information but attention, and the attention goes to those who are recognized as more credible. This makes the politics of credibility more essential than ever before in global history.

The soft power of a country depends on its culture-the places where it is attractive to others; its political values-how it lives up to them at home and abroad; and its foreign policies-when they are seen as legitimate and having moral authority (11).

The German editor Josef Joffe once attest

Quotes talked about in this paper

  • Nye describes "soft power" as "the ability to get what you want from the attractiveness of a country's culture, political ideals, and policies."
  • "appeal to my sense of attraction, love, or duty in our relationship and appeal to our shared values about the justness of contributing to those shared values and purposes," (7) explains Nye.
  • Nye believes that much of what is occurring in international politics today, where it is continually questioned "whose story wins?" ...
  • Nye does not believe that it is the correct way of proceeding in today's world of with high technology as well as with a terrorist ideology that has "well-defined political objectives, which were often ill-served by mass destruction" ...
  • Nye calls "a smart power." ...
  • Lowy Institute for International Policy, found 57 per cent of Australians were "very worried" or "fairly worried"
  • Geir Lundestad stated, "by invitation." ...

RadioStation referenced in this research paper
WWII,

Names talked about in this essay
a smart power., Donald Rumsfeld, Nye, Mahatma Ghandi, Josef Joffe, Chirdon, Geir Lundestad,

Organizations included in this research material
Lowy Institute for International Policy, Harvard University,

Locations referenced in this research material
America, co-opting people, Europeans, Iraq, France,

Keywords included in this research material
soft power, foreign policy, America, hard power, United States, soft and hard, smart power, attractiveness, Joseph Nye, Islamic extremism, Europe, superpower, Radio Free Europe, German Marshall Fund, public opinion poll, Donald Rumsfeld, World Politics, policy institute, world peace, Geir Lundestad, Four Freedoms, Josef Joffe, Assistant Secretary, Australians, Tiananmen Square, Iraq war, percentage points, military force, blue jeans, Nobel prizes, James Traub, Stimson Center, Soviet Russia, rising china, transatlantic relations, San Paolo, ordinary people, international, global affairs, squad leader, North Korea, human rights, website hosts, Cold War, TV programs, global history, Harvard University, bad news, high technology, music sales,

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The Means To Success in World Politics. (1969, December 31). In DirectEssays.com. Retrieved 05:26, May 21, 2013, from http://www.directessays.com/viewpaper/200012.html
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