Editing Soft power (section)

== Description ==
[[File:Soft Power (2004) by Joseph Nye.jpg|thumb|left|Joseph Nye's 2004 book describing the concept of "soft power"]]

The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' records the phrase "soft power" (meaning "power (of a nation, state, alliance, etc.) deriving from economic and cultural influence, rather than coercion or military strength") from 1985.<ref>
{{oed | soft power}} - "S. Boonyapratuang Mil. Control in S.E. Asia iii. 72   Musjawarah (decision by discussion) and 'soft power' became the stances of his control."
</ref>
[[Joseph Nye]] popularized the concept of "soft power" in the late 1980s.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Nye
 |first1               = Joseph S.
 |author-link1         = Joseph Nye
 |date                 = 16 March 2004
 |title                = Soft Power: The Means To Success In World Politics
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=wuqOAAAAMAAJ
 |publication-place    = New York
 |publisher            = PublicAffairs
 |page                 = ix, xi
 |isbn                 = 9781586482251
 |access-date          = 16 March 2023
 |quote                = [...] I had coined the term 'soft power' a decade or so earlier. [...] I first developed the concept of 'soft power' in ''Bound to Lead'', a book I published in 1990 [...].
}}
</ref>
For Nye, power is the ability to influence the behavior of others to get the outcomes you want. There are several ways one can achieve this: one can coerce others with threats; one can induce them with payments; or one can attract and co-opt them to want what one wants. This soft power – getting others to want the outcomes one wants – co-opts people rather than coerces them.{{sfn|Nye|1990}}

Soft power contrasts with "[[hard power]]" – the use of coercion and payment. Soft power can be wielded not just by states but also by all actors in international politics, such as [[Non-governmental organization|NGOs]] or international institutions.{{sfn|Nye|2004a}} It is also considered by some an example of the "second face of power"<ref>
{{cite book
 |editor-last1         = Parlak
 |editor-first1        = Bekir
 |date                 = 15 October 2022
 |title                = The Handbook of Public Administration, Vol. 2
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=5tWYEAAAQBAJ
 |publisher            = Livre de Lyon
 |page                 = 346
 |isbn                 = 9782382363003
 |access-date          = 16 March 2023
 |quote                = The second face of power is soft power.
}}
</ref>
that indirectly allows one to obtain the outcomes one wants.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Sobrinho
 |first1               = Blasco José
 |year                 = 2001
 |title                = Signs, Solidarities, and Sociology: Charles S. Peirce and the Pragmatics of Globalization
  |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=BtwpzP9qKawC
 |publication-place    = Lanham, Maryland
 |publisher            = Rowman & Littlefield
 |page                 = 115
 |isbn                 = 9780847691791
 |access-date          = 16 March 2023
 |quote                = [...] the notion of a 'second face of power'" — less 'obvious' to empirical observation — introduced in 1962 by Peter Bachrach and Morton Baratz in 'The Two Faces of Power.' The views of Bachrach and Baratz, presented comprehensively in their 1970 book ''Power and Poverty'' drew [...] upon post-empiricist (post-positivist) philosophy of science to argue that [...] social science should consider those aspects of political life that are covert and 'nonobvious.' [...] Bachrach and Baratz put forward the concept of the 'nondecision,' which they defined as 'a decision that results in suppression or thwarting of a latent or manifest challenge to the values or interests of the decision-maker.'
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Mattern
 |first1               = Mark
 |year                 = 2006
 |title                = Putting Ideas to Work: A Practical Introduction to Political Thought
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=QTCTywjlr-IC
 |series               = Reference,Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series
 |publication-place    = Lanham, Maryland
 |publisher            = Rowman & Littlefield
 |page                 = 372
 |isbn                 = 9780742548909
 |access-date          = 16 March 2023
 |quote                = The exercise of the second face of power often occurs in the form of a nonaction or nonbehavior by the policy makers . Unlike the first face of power , in which A ''makes'' B do something that B would not otherwise do , in the second face of power A ''prevents'' B from doing something that B would ''like'' to do.
}}
</ref>
A country's soft power, according to Nye, rests on three resources: "its culture (in places where it is attractive to others), its political values (when it lives up to them at home and abroad), and its foreign policies (when others see them as legitimate and having moral authority)."{{sfn|Nye|2011|p=84}}

{{Blockquote|"A country may obtain the outcomes it wants in world politics because other countries – admiring its values, emulating its example, aspiring to its level of prosperity and openness – want to follow it. In this sense, it is also important to set the agenda and attract others in world politics, and not only to force them to change by threatening military force or economic sanctions. This soft power – getting others to want the outcomes that you want – co-opts people rather than coerces them."{{sfn|Nye|2004a}}
}}

Soft power resources are the assets that produce attraction, which often leads to acquiescence.{{sfn|Nye|2004a}} Nye asserts that, "Seduction is always more effective than coercion, and many values like democracy, human rights, and individual opportunities are deeply seductive."{{sfn|Nye|2004a|p=x}} [[Angelo Codevilla]] observed that an often overlooked essential aspect of soft power is that different parts of populations are attracted or repelled by different things, ideas, images, or prospects.<ref name="Angelo M. Codevilla 2008">Angelo M. Codevilla, "Political Warfare: A Set of Means for Achieving Political Ends", in Waller, ed., ''Strategic Influence: Public Diplomacy, Counterpropaganda and Political Warfare'' (IWP Press, 2008).</ref> Soft power is hampered when policies, culture, or values repel others instead of attracting them.

In his book, Nye argues that soft power is a more difficult instrument for governments to wield than hard power for two reasons: many of its critical resources are outside the control of governments, and soft power tends to "work indirectly by shaping the environment for policy, and sometimes takes years to produce the desired outcomes."{{sfn|Nye|2004a|p=x}}<ref name="Lord, Carnes 2008. p 59-71">Lord, Carnes, "Public Diplomacy and Soft Power", in Waller, ed., ''Strategic Influence: Public Diplomacy, Counterpropaganda and Political Warfare'' (IWP Press, 2008.) pp. 59–71.</ref> The book identifies three broad categories of soft power: "culture", "political values", and "policies."

In ''The Future of Power'' (2011), Nye reiterates that soft power is a descriptive, rather than a normative, concept.{{sfn|Nye|2011|p=81}} Therefore, soft power can be wielded for nefarious purposes. "[[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]], [[Josef Stalin|Stalin]], and [[Mao Zedong|Mao]] all possessed a great deal of soft power in the eyes of their acolytes, but that did not make it good. It is not necessarily better to twist minds than to twist arms."{{sfn|Nye|2011|p=81}} Nye also claims that soft power does not contradict the international relations theory of [[Realism (international relations)|realism]]. "Soft power is not a form of idealism or liberalism. It is simply a form of power, one way of getting desired outcomes."{{sfn|Nye|2011|p=82}}