Preface and Chapter 5: Soft Power and American Foreign Policy, in Soft Power, Public Affairs, New Hampshire, 2004

Abstract

This fragment of Professor´s Nye famous book introduces the concept and the repercussions of the soft power. Defined as “the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments”, it is of great relevance for the foreign policy of the United States. After exposing the different American foreign policy traditions and the negative consequences of the waste of this kind of power during the Iraq War, Nye underlines the need of using hard power as well as soft power, shaping a new concept of power, the Smart Power.