the-concept-of-soft-power.pdf

“Soft power” concept Introduction One of the main notions in international relations since the earliest political writings of Thucydides and Machiavelli has been power and it remains perhaps among the most important and least understood concepts in political theory 1 . According to Robert A.Dahl, power is the ability for one actor to influence the actions of another actor that would not have occurred otherwise 2 . In other words, power is the ability to effect the outcomes you want, and if necessary, to change the behavior of others to make this happen. The ability to gain the results one wants is usually associated with the scope of different resources such as territory, population, natural resources, military force, strength of economy, political stability 3 . During the years various types of power have been examined, however the realist point of view on this concept prevailed. The school of realism considers power in terms of military and economic force (or “hard power”), therefore, the only test of “great power” could be “strength for war” 4 . While realists have traditionally looked at the nation’s ability to influence as well as at the function of the tangible and coercive sources of power (threat and force), Joseph S. Nye Jr. has elaborated the concept of the influence that derives from intangible sources, like culture, basic principles and values, public diplomacy defined by him as “soft power” 5 . “Soft power” was first coined by Nye in 1990 in his book “Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power” 6 , and since that time the significance of this concept has risen dramatically, as well as the interest in it of many scholars, 1 Nye, Joseph S. Jr. 2002. The paradox of American Power: why the world’s only superpower can’t go it alone. Oxford University Press, Inc., p.2 2 Dahl, Robert A., The Concept of Power. / Behavioral Science, 2:3, July, 1957, p.201 3 Nye, Jos