John F. Kennedy School of Government Dean Joseph S. Nye Jr. Harvard Dean Advocates Soft Power in Hard World by John Shaw Joseph S. Nye Jr., dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, believes U.S. leaders should think deeply about the concept of soft power as they decide how America will interact with the rest of the world. Nye said soft power is the ability of a country to get what it wants through attraction rather than coercion or payments. It arises, he argues, from the overall appeal of a countryís culture, political ideals and policies. "Power comes in many forms, and soft power is not weakness. It is a form of power and the failure to incorporate it in our national strategy is a serious mistake," Nye said in an interview with The Washington Diplomat. "Seduction is always more effective than coercion, and values like democracy, human rights and individual opportunities are deeply seductive," he added. Nye said that the United States will succeed in the international system by carefully employing its soft power to persuade other nations to work with it on important ven tures, not by pummeling or humiliating those that differ with us. He urges U.S. policymakers not to minimize, or dismiss, the potential effectiveness of soft power. "A lot of people around the world follow the United States not because of the stick of our military power or the carrot of our economic power, but because they are attracted to our culture and values. This is one of the reasons we won the Cold War," he said. Soft spoken and precise, Nye is one of the countryís most respected political analysts. He has sterling academic credentials and extensive government experience. A member of Harvardís faculty since 1964, Nye has also worked at senior levels in the U.S. government. During the Carter administration, he served as deputy to the undersecretary of state for security assistance, science and technology, and he chaired the National Security Council group on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. During the early years of the Clinton administration, he was chairman of the National Intelligence Council, which coordinates intelligence estimates for the president. He later served as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. As a policy analyst, Nye said he tries to take a "countercyclical approach" to assessing ideas and trends. For example, in the late 1980s, Nye reviewed the popular literature about Americaís alleged decline and was convinced it was wrong. He wrote the book "Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power," which argued that the United States was far stronger than the prevailing wisdom held in both the military and economic spheres. He also said the United States possessed a more intangible attractivenessósoft poweróthat generated great sympathy and quiet support from around the world. Then in 2001, Nye grew uneasy over frequent American boasting about the nationís unrivaled power. He wrote the book "The Paradox of Power," which said the countryís power was more limited than many realized and required the cooperation of others. The paradox of American power, Nye declared, is that the United States is too strong to be challenged by any one state but not strong enough to solve by itself such problems as global terror, environmental degradation and nuclear proliferation. Nye believes that as policymakers assess the international system, they should recognize that there are three dimensions of power. In the realm of military power, he said, the United States is the only superpower. However, in the realm of economic power, there are multiple power centers, including the United States, the European Union and Japan. In the third realm, that of transnational issues, the United States is one of many nations with views and policies. Nye uses the metaphor of three-dimensional chess to explain why policymakers should view the international system comprehensively. "On the military board it makes sense to speak of American primacy or hegemony. But on the economic board there is a balance of power, a multi-polar world. And on the transnational board it makes no sense to refer to America as an empire. We have to work with many other countries on these transnational issues to make much progress." Nye said many U.S. analysts fail to understand these differing dimensions of power, and those who casually describe the United States as a modern-day Roman Empire donít grasp the complexity of the world. "There is a tendency of neoconservatives to focus on the military board. Many of them are one-dimensional players in a three-dimensional game," he said. "But when you focus on only one board in three-dimensional chess, you lose." Nye argues that the notion of an American empire is not the narrative the United States needs to be successful in the world. "The term ëAmerican empireí has become a catchy, trendy way to sell books. The trouble is if empire means political control, we donít have as much political control as that implies. Itís hard to call a country an empire when it canít get Mexico or Chile to vote for a second U.N. resolution on Iraq," Nye said. "There is a difference between the politics of primacy and the politics of empire," he continued. "The danger of the empire metaphor is it makes us think we are stronger than we are. Political control is a matter of degree, and the degree of control implied by an empire is much greater than the U.S. has." Nye said that if U.S. leaders see the world in a more nuanced way, they will have a greater appreciation of the importance of soft power. Concerned that the concept of soft power has been trivialized or misunderstood over the past decade, Nye has published a new book, "Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics," that develops the idea more fully. "There is a danger that some think of soft power as Coke or McDonaldís. Soft power is attractive power that is a lot more than just the popular culture," Nye explained. "It grows out of our cultureóboth our high and popular culture. It grows out of our political valuesódemocracy and human rights. It also grows out of the perceived legitimacy of our foreign policy." Nye said there are aspects of soft power that U.S. policymakers have little control over, such as the nationís culture and its traditional political values. But policymakers canóand shouldófocus on the substance and style of U.S. foreign policy. "When you can get others to admire your ideals and to want what you want, you do not have to spend as much on sticks and carrots to move them in your direction," he said. "But attraction can turn to repulsion if we act in an arrogant manner that undermines the real message of our deeper values. A foreign policy based on hegemony, uni-polarity and unilateralism will not be successful," he added. Nye argues that the U.S.-led war against Iraq is a fascinating and important case study into the interaction of soft and hard power. He said it remains unclear if Americaís hard-power gains in Iraq have been exceeded by its soft-power losses. Although the Iraq war was a clear demonstration of U.S. military prowess, Nye said, the Bush administrationís often dismissive attitude toward the views of other nations and the United Nations has led to a rise in anti-American sentiment, a surge in terrorist recruitment and a sizable U.S. bill for the war and the reconstruction effort. Nye said that a clear understanding of soft power is necessary to understand the terrorist threatóand to defeat it. He pointed out that terrorism is not new, nor is it made up of a single enemy. It is a long-standing method of conflict that involves a deliberate attack on noncombatants with the object of spreading fear and intimidation. He noted that terrorism has been a staple of conflicts throughout the Middle East, Northern Ireland, Spain, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, South Africa and elsewhere. Two developments, Nye said, have made terrorism more lethal and difficult to manage in the 21st century: Progress in science and technology make the instruments of mass destruction smaller, cheaper and more easily available to a wider range of people, and the motivations and organizations of terror groups have shifted from narrowly political to unlimited or retributive. "We are not the only ones who possess soft power. We have to face the fact that Osama bin Laden and his extremist allies have attracted a number of followers. Itís our job to prevent him from attracting the moderate majority in the Islamic world," Nye said. "It is through soft power that terrorists gain general support as well a s new recruits. Terrorism depends crucially on soft power for its ultimate victory. It depends on its ability to attract support from the crowd at least as much as its ability to destroy the enemyís will to fight," he added. Nye said the United States should invest more in soft power and learn to wield it more effectively. Specifically, he recommends allocating more resources for public diplomacy. "Public diplomacy is not just Madison Avenue advertising," Nye said, arguing that the United States must become more agile at responding to events of the day, better at explaining the goals of U.S. foreign policy, and more skillful at developing a long-term strategy of cultural and educational exchanges. A member of the editorial boards of Foreign Policy and International Security magazines, Nye is the author of numerous books and more than 150 professional journal articles. For recreation, he enjoys fly fishing, hiking, squash, skiing, gardening and working on his tree farm in New Hampshire. Nye has been the dean of the Kennedy School for eight years and will step down from his post this summer. He will continue to teach at Harvard and wants to write more. He admires Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president, and may serve as an informal adviser to his campaign after he ends his tenure as dean of the Kennedy School. "I have a great deal of respect for Sen. Kerry. I think we share similar views. I like what he has to say," Nye said. However the 2004 election turns out, Nye wants to continue to develop ideas that will make Americaís foreign policy more attractive and compelling to the rest of the world. "When our policies are seen as legitimate in the eyes of others, our soft power is enhanced. America has long possessed a great deal of soft power," he said. "I believe America is a force for good in the world and American primacy can be a good thing. But how we go about our foreign policy makes an important difference to our attractiveness, to our soft power." John Shaw is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.