In addition, while pre-emptive strikes can be powerful and effective, they also anger people we might otherwise persuade to our side with soft power. In our own history we have ample evidence for the psychological impact of pre-emptive strikes with the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. That attack resolved our will and galvanized us to fight those who had attacked us with great determination. It was a very long time after that attack before Japan could use soft power to persuade Americans that a new, friendlier Japan existed. .

             HOW IT CAN BE USED.

             Laqueur points out that we cannot reasonably expect to triumph over terrorism to the point that no terrorism ever occurs again4. But since terrorism is essentially a war of beliefs, soft power holds the potential to dampen terrorism by reducing support for it over time. .

             Those who espouse soft power believe that over the long term, it could be one of our greatest weapons in the war on terrorism, because terrorists depend on the people within the countries from which they work for support. There is no gain from creating a martyr if the martyr is not admired for his or her acts. Part of the positive message the United States communicates with soft power is that it is not necessary to use terrorism in order to promote one"s goals. Soft power can influence people to shift their goals from retaliation against the United States to a desire for a life that is both more peaceful and more prosperous.

             Nye does not suggest that soft power can always supplant military action. In addition, he is not completely critical of Bush"s prosecution of the current war. However, he says, "the Bush administration undercut its own strategy and helped al-Qaeda gain new recruits throughout the Islamic world.polls show that after the Iraq war, more people in 'friendly" countries such as Jordan and Pakistan were attracted to Osama bin Laden than to George W. Bush5.