Soft Power: the Means to Success in World Politics

Recently I have read the following book. Its main points are:

Book title: Nye, Joseph, Jr. 2004. Soft Power: the Means to Success in World Politics. New York: Public Affairs.

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Main points:

- Ch. 2 – the US has many resources that can potentially provide soft power. Not only is the fact that America is the world’s largest economy, but nearly half of the top 500 global companies are American. 62 of the top global brands are American. (33)

- opposition to American policies is not the same as general opposition to the US. The image or attractiveness of a country is composed of foreigner’s attitudes on a variety of levels and types, American policy constitutes only one. (35)

- many intellectuals and critics disdain popular culture because of its crude commercialism. They view pop culture as an anesthetizing and apolitical opiate for the masses. Such disdain is misplaced because popular entertainment often contains subliminal images and messages about individualism, consumer choice and other values that have important political effects. (47) (c/f  pop songs)

- simple items like blue jeans, Coca-Cola, or a cigarette brand acquired an added value that helped younger generations to give expression to an identify of their own. (48)

- Soviet audiences watching films with apolitical themes nonetheless learned that people in the West did not have to stand in long lines to purchase food, did not live in communal apartment, and they owned their own cars. All these invalidated the negative view promulgated by the Soviet media.(49)

- all countries pursue their national interest in foreign policy, but there are choices to be made about how broadly or narrowly we define our national interest. Polices based on broadly inclusive and far-sighted definition of national interest are easier to make attractive to others.]60-61)

-the US, like 19^th century Britain, also has an interest in keeping international markets and global commons, such as the oceans, open to all. To a large extent, international order is a public good. (61)

- the image of the US and its attractiveness to others is a composite of many different ideas and attitudes. It depends in part on culture, in part on domestic policies and values, and in part on the substance, tactics, and style of the US foreign policies.(68)

(to be continued)