Soft Power

Joseph Nye coined the term 'soft power' to describe a nation’s ability to attract and persuade. Whereas hard power - the ability to coerce - grows out of a country’s military or economic might, soft power arises from the attractiveness of its culture, political ideals, and policies. Hard power remains crucial in a world of states trying to guard their independence and of non-state groups willing to turn to violence. But as a new administration - whether Republican or Democrat - maps out its fore