8. The twenty-first century and smart power

Author(s):  
Joseph S. Nye

This chapter examines US foreign policy as ‘smart power’, a combnation of hard and soft power, in the twenty-first century. The beginning of the twenty-first century saw George W. Bush place a strong emphasis on hard power, as exemplifed by the invasion and occupation of Iraq. This was evident after 9/11. While the war in Iraq showcased America’s hard military power that removed a tyrant, it failed to resolve US vulnerability to terrorism; on the contrary, it may have increased it. The chapter first considers the Obama administration’s reference to its foreign policy as ‘smart power’ before discussing Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ policy, the role of power in a global information age, soft power in US foreign policy, and how public diplomacy has been incorporated into US foreign policy.

Author(s):  
Joseph S. Nye

This chapter examines Barack Obama’s foreign policy agenda. The Obama administration referred to its foreign policy as ‘smart power’, which combines soft and hard power resources in different contexts. In sending additional troops to Afghanistan, his use of military force in support of a no-fly zone in Libya, and his use of sanctions against Iran, Obama showed that he was not afraid to use the hard components of smart power. The chapter first considers power in a global information age before discussing soft power in U.S. foreign policy. It then explains how public diplomacy came to be incorporated into American foreign policy and concludes by highlighting problems in wielding soft power.


2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-39
Author(s):  
Arijit Mazumdar

In recent years, several countries have made sustained efforts to project their ‘soft power’ abroad. Public diplomacy has been an important tool for this purpose. Public diplomacy involves activities usually undertaken by a national government to inform and influence foreign public opinion and attitudes in order to advance its foreign policy goals. Such activities include ‘nation-branding’, diaspora outreach, digital engagement, international broadcasting, and international exchange programmes, all of which are designed to promote a positive image and reputation of the country to a global audience. This paper discusses the role of public diplomacy in the service of India’s foreign policy goals during the twenty-first century. The practice of public diplomacy helps the country achieve two significant objectives. First, it helps allay any active or dormant fears within the international community about India as a rising power. Second, it helps India compete with other countries as it seeks to boost foreign tourist arrivals, attract foreign investment and secure new markets for its exports in an era of globalisation. This paper also briefly discusses some of the challenges associated with India’s use of public diplomacy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-311
Author(s):  
Shrey Khanna ◽  
P. Moorthy

The first decade of the twenty-first century saw the chants of the rise of an Indian superpower. These claims of the twenty-first century as India’s century were not only based on the massive economic growth that the country saw in the post-1991 liberalisation period, and the concomitant boost in military infrastructure, but also by virtue of its having the biggest functional democracy, an influential multi-million plus diaspora, the sway of Bollywood in the region and abroad and the spectacular religious-linguistic diversity of the country. From conducting mega disaster-relief operations during the 2004 tsunami to effectuating the world’s largest civil evacuation during Operation Rahat, India has ceaselessly augmented its soft power potential to project its national power in the region. This article is an attempt to analyse the possibilities and challenges that India faces in the effective functioning of its soft power in the region. It also remarks as to how India’s soft power limitations can be quashed by integrating a smart power approach in its foreign policy by strengthening existent digital and public diplomacy infrastructure.


2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Potter ◽  
Daryl Copeland

AbstractThe case made in this article is threefold: that the resolution of conflicts in the twenty-first century will depend much more on the judicious use of soft rather than hard power; that the type of soft power exercised through public diplomacy will move increasingly from monologue to dialogue and collaboration; and that there is an increasing convergence of thinking both in defence departments and foreign ministries on the role of public diplomacy in resolving conflict in asymmetrical warfare. That convergence is expressed in this article's characterization of the 'guerrilla diplomat'.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 216-238
Author(s):  
S. M. Mirmohammad Sadeghi ◽  
R. Hajimineh

«Soft power» is a set of activities designed by a government or regional and international actors aimed to influence external public opinion, promote external image or attract support for a particular policy, which is implemented through all the available tools and new technologies. The non-governmental actors also play an effective and important role in this diplomacy. Considering the public diplomacy and soft power of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a deliberate and conscious approach can be of great importance in the country's grand strategies that will strengthen national interests in the domestic sphere and influence them at regional and global levels. The article analyzes the role of Iran’s soft power in confronting Iranophobia. The study is aimed at presenting a theoretical definition of public diplomacy and soft power in foreign policy and international system, and then examines its role in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran with an emphasis on confronting Iranophobia.The authors answer the research question: “What is the role of soft power in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in confronting Iranophobia?” The research method is descriptive-analytical based on historical evidence, documents, and analytical issues of theorists, authors, and media being expressed in the theoretical framework of soft power. The paper is based on a synthesis of Stephen Walt’s “balance of threat” theory with Alexander Wendt’s social constructivism to explain the Iranian “threat” in American foreign policy.The findings of this research show that without the use of force and disturbing the balance in the international relations, using a variety of tools and instruments the Iranian public diplomacy and soft power might be effective to reduce the global and regional atmosphere of Iranophobia and undermine anti-Iranian solidarity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina Puspita Plehanku

Abstract Public Diplomacy as a part of soft power has been the main principle of Indonesia’s diplomacy under President Yudhoyono. Due to the ineffectiveness of Track 1 Diplomacy, Government-to-Government (G2G) relations, in promoting the positive image of Indonesia, the role of public diplomacy becomes important. Thus, public diplomacy practice which involves all aspects of society; Government to Government (G2G), Government to People Contact (G2P), and People to People Contact (P2P), is relevant in order to promote Indonesia to American society and strengthening its bilateral relations as well. This research, therefore, is trying to discuss the role of public diplomacy in strengthening the RI-US bilateral relations and its benefits to Indonesia’s foreign policy. The findings show that public diplomacy contributes in strengthening RI-US bilateral relations by the use of public diplomacy instruments such as cultural and educational exchanges, official visits and social media. Keywords: Soft Power, Public Diplomacy, RI-US Bilateral Relations.


Author(s):  
Ronald J. Schmidt, Jr

Machiavelli wrote The Prince and the Discourses in exile, after three weeks being imprisoned and tortured because he was falsely suspected of being involved in an assassination attempt against the Medici. Reading those works, and particularly the former, through the light cast by torture, casts a new light on Machiavelli’s argument about new regimes and on the use of torture in the US foreign policy in the twenty-first century. Drawing on Elaine Scarry’s The Body in Pain and Hannah Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism, the chapter argues that torture is designed as an ideological process, a way to disrupt potential political communities and to replace them with audiences for the “fiction of power” and authority that new regimes create through physical torture and the displacement of populations.


2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 451-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alec Ross

We live in an era of pervasive connectivity. At an astonishing pace, much of the world’s population is joining a common network. The proliferation of communications and information technology creates very significant changes for statecraft. But we have to keep in mind that the Internet is not a magic potion for political and social progress. Technology by itself is agnostic. It simply amplifies the existing sociologies on the ground, for good or ill. And it is much better at organizing protest movements than organizing institutions to support new governments in place of those that have been toppled. Diplomacy in the twenty-first century must grapple with both the potential and the limits of technology in foreign policy, and respond to the disruptions that it causes in international relations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-131
Author(s):  
Nabin Kumar Khara

The article aims to analyse the increasing importance of soft power in the context of globalization and the growing conflicts over the use of military power for achieving foreign policy objectives. This article specifically focuses on the role of soft power in the foreign policy of India and sources of India’s soft power. It also examines the factors that affect India’s soft power adversely and how to increase its soft power. In international relations, the role of public diplomacy, among other aspects, is to brand the country and the nation through its culture and art. This article also argues that the increasing acceptability of its culture and values opens up possibilities for India to realize its foreign policy goals. In recent years, India’s leaders have increasingly focused on its diaspora, multicultural ethos and its ancient practices like yoga, through official campaigns and foreign visits. The article traces the evolution of India as a soft power since its emergence as an independent country. It explores how this soft power has shaped India’s foreign policy and behavior. India’s soft power assets are not of recent origin, but there is an increasing activism to use those assets effectively.


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