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This paper discusses and criticizes Joseph Nye's account of soft power. First, we set the stage and make some general remarks about the notion of social power. In the main part of this paper we offer a detailed critical discussion of Nye's conception of soft power. We conclude that it is too unclear and confused to be of much analytical use. However, despite this failure, Nye is aiming at explaining an important but also neglected form of social power: the power to influence the will and not just the behavior of other agents. In the last part of this paper we briefly discuss Steven Lukes' alternative view of a "third dimension" of power and end with a sketch of a more promising way to account for this neglected form of power. ; El articulo discute y critica las propuestas de Joseph Nye acerca del poder blando. Primero, abrimos la discusión con unos comentarios generales sobre la noción del poder social. En la parte principal de este artículo, ofrecemos una crítica detallada de la concepción del poder blando propuesta por Nye. Concluimos que esta concepción es demasiado opaca y confusa para tener mucho potencial analítico. Sin embargo, a pesar de tal fracaso conceptual, Nye apunta a aclarar una forma muy importante y desatendida del poder social: el poder de influir sobre la voluntad y no solo el comportamiento de otros actores. En la última sección del articulo discutimos brevemente la concepción alternativa propuesta por Steven Lukes acerca de la "tercera dimensión" del poder, y concluimos con el esbozo de una manera más prometedora de dar cuenta de esta forma desatendida del poder social.

Wenige Begriffe stehen in der internationalen Politik höher im Kurs als Soft Power - und ziehen mehr irrige Annahmen nach sich. Wenn es darum geht, das internationale Renommee eines Landes zu verbessern, greifen die meisten Glaubenssätze zu kurz oder sind schlichtweg falsch. Mit den Mitteln von PR und Marketing sind Imagewandel nicht zu erreichen. (IP)

В статье рассматриваются показатели «мягкой силы» Колумбии согласно подходу RGMs. Руководствуясь статистическими данными, автор анализирует сильные и слабые стороны в сложившихся условиях политической турбулентности. ; The article deals with indicators of Colombia's soft power, according to the RGMs system. Guided statistics, the author analyzes the strengths and weaknesses in the current context of political turbulence.

"The influence of soft power is very difficult to measure. It is associated with intangible resources such as culture or ideology, as well as the ability to use them skillfully in order to gain allies through attraction rather than coercion or payments. After the collapse of communism, Russia retained a huge military potential from the Soviet Union but largely lost its cultural and ideological appeal. Therefore, in order to rebuild its external attractiveness (at least in the post-Soviet space), Russia began to develop its foreign policy according to soft power principles. But Russian policy-makers misinterpreted the concept of soft power. They failed to appreciate the idea of partnerships with clear advantages for both sides in the near and long term. Instead, Moscow perceives soft power as the capacity to influence, or even manipulate, public opinion in target countries.
Although Russia possesses influential soft power channels to post-Soviet states like access to its labor market, language proximity, a common culture, and enormous energy resources, Moscow has been unable to enhance its attractiveness among its closest neighbors. Russian authorities focus most of all on loyal constituencies (such as compatriots living abroad) and seek to mobilize people who already follow Russia's goals and principles. Russia's insufficient soft power activism in the post-Soviet area is also due to its neo-imperial attitude toward neighboring states. Moscow is not able to offer them an attractive vision of integration without building patterns of strong dependence. Therefore, its proposal of close political and economic cooperation seems quite dangerous for the sovereignty and long-term development of its neighbors.
The notion of soft power holds strong normative potential based on domestic standards and norms of social and political life that are practiced in the state seeking to enhance its influence abroad. It is impossible to create an appealing external image without dealing effectively with domestic problems. Russia has many problems with corruption, the abuse of human rights, the lack of democracy, and the rule of law. Thus its model of political and socio-economic transformation cannot be seen as a positive example for other post-Soviet countries.
As soft powers usually use the most transparent and democratic measures to build their external attractiveness, the only way for Russia to become a real soft power in the post-Soviet area is to introduce serious internal reforms that focus on the liberalization of its economy and the democratization of its political system. It is only through real democratic change that Russia will reach its soft power potential." [author's abstract]