Who Needs Soft Power?

<p>American political scientist Joseph Nye popularized the concept of soft power decades ago. As he wrote in his 2004 book by that name, “soft power – getting others to want the outcomes that you want – co-opts people rather than coerces them.” Such soft power cooption can be less costly than hard power coercion.</p><p>But we see daily reminders that soft power is insufficient and hard power often remains decisive, at least initially.</p><p>Consider:<br />Putin’s unprovoked large-scale invasion of Ukraine;<br />Beijing’s saber rattling in the Taiwan Strait; and<br />Tehran’s continued employment of terrorist proxies and steps toward a nuclear weapon capability.</p><p>...These remind us that soft power has its limits.</p><p>But it would be a mistake to dismiss the role of soft power. It’s a necessary but not sufficient complement to hard power that can help the U.S. secure its interests.</p><p>America needs both hard and softer power tools and needs to employ and integrate them more effectively. That’s one of the big ideas animating <a href="https://www.fdd.org/projects/center-on-military-and-political-power/" target="_blank">FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP)</a>.</p><p><i>What are the tools of soft power? How do they relate to hard power?</i><br /><i>How is China using soft power tools against the United States and its allies?</i><br /><i>How can we wield our soft power tools such as international development more effectively?</i></p><p>To discuss these topics and more, <a href="https://www.fdd.org/team/bradley-bowman/" target="_blank"><strong>Bradley Bowman</strong></a> — senior director of FDD’s CMPP, filling in for <strong>Cliff May</strong> as host — is joined by <strong>Daniel Runde</strong> and <a href="https://www.fdd.org/team/elaine-dezenski/" target="_blank"><strong>Elaine Dezenski</strong></a>.</p><p><strong>Daniel Runde</strong><br />Dan is a senior vice president and director of the Project on Prosperity and Development (PPD) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, whe