Soft Power and Hard Batons

Soft Power and the Struggle Against Terrorism

A smart power strategy does not ignore the tools of soft power.

Soft power is the ability to attract others, and the three key soft power skills are emotional intelligence, vision, and communications.

Soft power is rarely sufficient, but it is often crucial to combine soft and hard power to have an effective smart power strategy.

Smart power means the combination of the hard power of command and the soft power of attraction.

We are also failing in the application of soft power.

The soft power of Asian countries, then, lags behind that of the US, Europe, and Japan, but it is likely to increase.

It is not the solution to all problems.

Good rhetorical skills help to generate soft power.

Economic resources can produce soft power behavior as well as hard military power.

As for America, it is down in terms of both soft ideological power and hard military power.

South Korea has impressive soft power potential.

Almost every leader needs a certain degree of soft power.

Europe does not face a choice between soft and hard power.

But it is a mistake to count too much on hard or soft power alone.

Soft power is not good per se , and it is not always better than hard power.

It is interesting to note that the soothing strength here is an economic strength, the ECCAS (Economic Community of Central African States).

Of course, soft power is no panacea.

To make this formula work, however, requires a good deal of soft power.

This is super charged American soft power.

In short, South Korea has the resources to produce soft power, and its soft power is not prisoner to the geographical limitations that have constrained its hard power throughout its history.

The US government spends 450 times more on hard military power than on soft power.

Soft power is a concept invented by a Harvard academic, Joseph Nye, a friend of mine.

With soft power, however, the energy of empowered followers strengthens leaders.

Barack Obama understands this networked dimension of leadership and the importance of the soft power of attraction.

Rather than diluting hard and soft power, immigration enhances both.

South Korea ranked 9th in hard power resources but performed more poorly in terms of soft power.

That may be true in the domain of hard military power, but it is not true of soft power resources.

Moreover, the soft power of communist ideology had virtually disappeared.

Soft power has the upper hand today, and tanks can t shut down the Internet.

These examples show that hard power and soft power go together.

Hard and soft power can reinforce or undermine each other.

While military power remains important, it is a mistake for any country to discount the role of economic power and soft power.

But is soft power enough for one of the world s major emerging countries?

The Cold War was won by a mixture of hard and soft power.

One hopes that China s leaders will learn the importance of free expression for establishing soft power.

The ability to combine hard and soft power is smart power. When the Soviet Union invaded Hungary and Czechoslovakia during the Cold War, it undercut the soft power that it had enjoyed in Europe in the aftermath of World War II.

During President George W. Bush s first term, Secretary of State Colin Powell understood and referred to soft power, whereas Rumsfeld, when asked about soft power in 2003, replied I don t know what it means.

Balancing hard power relations with governments with soft power support for democracy is like walking a tightrope.

Military force is obviously a source of hard power, but the same resource can sometimes contribute to soft power behavior.

Not only are their military, or hard power, resources growing there are signs that their soft power resources are increasing, too.

When the exercise of hard power undercuts soft power, leadership becomes more difficult as President Bush found out after the invasion of Iraq.

That will require more use of the soft power of attraction rather than relying so heavily on hard military power, as the Bush administration has done.

But the misuse of military resources can also undercut soft power.