The Zen of Soft Power
In: International studies perspectives: ISP, Band 6, Heft 4, S. i-ii
ISSN: 1528-3585
In: International studies perspectives: ISP, Band 6, Heft 4, S. i-ii
ISSN: 1528-3585
In: Review of International Economics, Band 27, Heft 5, S. 1573-1590
SSRN
In: South African journal of international affairs, Band 19, Heft 2, S. [151]-155
ISSN: 1022-0461
World Affairs Online
In: South African journal of international affairs: journal of the South African Institute of International Affairs, Band 19, Heft 2, S. 151-155
ISSN: 1938-0275
In: International journal / Canadian Institute of International Affairs, Band 61, Heft 1, S. 268-269
ISSN: 2052-465X
In: International studies perspectives: ISP, Band 23, Heft 1, S. 94-111
ISSN: 1528-3585
Soft power is a perennial buzzword in policy discussions, but its popularity has not translated into scholarly or policy impact. In this policy article, I argue that this is because many references to soft power are vague and undefined, referring to any use of culture or ideology in a state's foreign policy and leaving unclear soft power's relationship with hard power. Drawing on recent scholarly work on nonmaterial sources of power, I address this issue by arguing that soft power is one among several forms of cultural–symbolic instruments of power that can either complement or substitute for material resources. I also provide a typology to categorize these forms, according to whether they involve direct or diffuse relations, and whether they are intended to integrate or fragment international collective action. This approach can provide more specific language to both analyze and advocate for alternatives to military and economic tools in statecraft. I demonstrate its utility with illustrative case studies on Saudi and Russian foreign policy. This article can contribute to policy debates by allowing for more clarity in discussions on soft power and related forms of power. It can also contribute to scholarship in this area by helping to better connect it to policy discussions.
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In: La revue internationale et stratégique: l'international en débat ; revue trimestrielle publiée par l'Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques (IRIS), Heft 73, S. 127-130
ISSN: 1287-1672
Soft power is a useful concept of political theory and sociology developed by J.S. Nye Jr. in 1990. However, this concept can be overly abstract and hence somewhat artificial. In particular, this concept has been criticized by other sources and points of view. This paper develops a more complex and systemic approach to the concept of soft power targeted to the field of international relations and aimed at being useful for decision-making. Such an approach could be used in other fields and provides alternative analytic possibilities.
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In: Meždunarodnye processy: žurnal teorii meždunarodnych otnošenij i mirovoj politiki = International trends : journal of theory of international relations and world politics, Band 16, Heft 2
In: MGIMO Review of International Relations, Band 1, Heft 52, S. 57-66
In: Asien: the German journal on contemporary Asia, Heft 125, S. 62-77
ISSN: 0721-5231
The term "soft power," coined by American scholar J.S. Nye, not only became well known in China but also stirred a debate among Chinese experts about how to adapt this notion to the Chinese context. This debate embraces a wide spectrum of issues - from a linguistic problem (how to properly translate the expression "soft power" in order to reflect its intended meaning), to the very definition of the term, to sources, tools, and other aspects of it. Due to the fact that the practice of China's "soft power" has already been painstakingly described and analyzed, this paper focuses on theoretical assumption of Chinese "soft power," seen from the perspective of Chinese scholars. This discourse contributes to the debate about the PRC's foreign policy and international relations theory with Chinese characteristics. (Asien/GIGA)
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In: Journal of International Relations and Development
The study of soft power in international relations suffers from a liberal democratic bias. Throughout the literature, liberal concepts and values are assumed to be universal in their appeal. This bias has led scholars to underestimate Russian soft power by instrumentalising it, that is, to see it purely as the effect of government-sponsored programmes, and to focus primarily on the cultural pillar of soft power. This paper argues, alternatively, that Russia's conservative values and illiberal governance models generate admiration and followership, even outside of what Russia claims to be its post-Soviet sphere of influence. Crucially, this admiration and followership perform the traditional function of soft power: generating support for controversial Russian foreign policy decisions. Admitting that soft power can be based on conservative values is necessary not only to understand Russia's foreign policy potential, but also the ability of non-Western states to challenge successfully the Western liberal order.
In: International journal / Canadian Institute of International Affairs, Band 61, Heft 1, S. 243
ISSN: 0020-7020
With the introduction of Joseph S. Nye's theory of soft power in the 1990s, the analysis of power relations within the field of today's world politics reveals that their nature is changing and that attraction wielded to generate desired outcomes is becoming increasingly relevant as one of its components. The study establishes this theory as a frame for the investigation of the discourse on China's use of soft power in its ascendance as a world power, which currently permeates academic and political spheres around the globe. In this dissertation, a specific attempt is made to understand how China views its own soft power, placing particular attention on the cultural aspect of it, and stressing the features that differentiate the Chinese interpretation of soft power from the Western discourse. Through an interdisciplinary examination of Chinese leaders' official speeches, policy documents, news and media, and academic papers and volumes, it will thus be shown how the original soft power concept has been reinterpreted, modified, and expanded since being incorporated in the Chinese context. The related debate, which started in the early 1990s, when the theory made its first appearance in intellectual circles, being presented at first through translations of Nye's works and discussed from a theoretical perspective in scholarly articles, has gradually penetrated the policy-making and leadership levels. Since the Hu Jintao era and, even more assuredly, in the current Xi Jinping era, the theory of soft power has been concretely included within China's national strategy, as signaled by the incorporation into the political jargon of not only the wording "ruan shili
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