Joseph nye, a famous American international political scientist. His achievements in life spanned the academic and political circles. He served as Assistant Secretary of State in Carter Administration, Assistant Secretary of Defense in Clinton Administration and Chairman of National Intelligence Committee. Academically, the famous concept of "soft power" was put forward by him, which is the word "soft power" in the title of this book.

About this book?

"Hard Power and Soft Power" is joseph nye's anthology, with 13 papers, and this book is specially designed for China, and the titles are specially selected by the author. Among them, the most noteworthy is the author's exposition on soft power, which is a very influential theory. In today's world, many phenomena and events cannot be expressed and explained without this concept.

Core content?

Traditional power resources such as force are playing a less and less role in today's world. As a supplement, soft power can make people agree with you and agree with your ideas in the form of attraction rather than coercion, so as to implement your ideas. This method has lower cost and better effect, so soft power is becoming more and more important. For a country, the power resources of soft power include multinational corporations, popular culture, aristocratic culture, values, institutional norms, policies, media, information, reputation and so on.

order

Soft power is the ability to influence others through involuntary attraction and make them agree with your goals. In the field of international politics, soft power plays an increasingly important role, even surpassing the traditional hard power represented by the military.

The author of this book is joseph nye, a famous American international political scientist. He is now over eighty years old, but he is still active in various public occasions and still likes to comment on world political issues. His achievements in life can be said to have crossed the academic and political circles: politically, he served as Assistant Secretary of State in Carter Administration, Assistant Secretary of Defense in Clinton Administration and Chairman of the National Intelligence Committee of the United States. However, his greater achievements are still in the academic field. He has many academic titles and works, so we won't list them one by one. Let's say a common word, soft power, was invented by joseph nye. Soft power is often translated into soft power today, but in fact "soft power" is closer to the author's original intention. This is definitely an influential theory. In today's world, without this concept, many phenomena may be difficult to express and explain.

The book Hard Power and Soft Power is actually a collection of joseph nye's essays, with 13 papers. This book is specially designed for China. All the articles included were selected by joseph nye himself. These articles were published from 1986 to 2003, and they were also the pinnacle of the author's academic achievements. There are both rigorous and abstract academic papers and short articles in simple terms, which is almost an encyclopedia of international affairs practice and theory.

Although there are many topics involved, in general, this collection mainly discusses two things: one is the world outlook of neo-liberal institutionalism, and the theory in this ivory tower is gaining great momentum now, but it is mainly academic and theoretical, very professional and far from the public; The other is joseph nye's original soft power, which has entered the homes of ordinary people. Next, we will introduce this book around "soft power" and make it clear that soft power is a great gain from reading this book.

There are three main contents in the following introduction. First of all, what is soft power, or what is not? How was this concept put forward, what is its historical background, and what is its spread and change now? Second, the difference between hard power and soft power? Why is the importance of soft power more and more obvious, and it may even surpass hard power? 3. What are the soft power resources? How does the United States use soft power resources? Why do we always talk about culture and even McDonald's when we talk about soft power? After that, we will briefly discuss how to treat joseph nye's soft power theory.

first part

Let's start with the first question. What is "soft power"? Or, more accurately, what is soft power? What is the background of this concept, and what is its spread and application today?

It stands to reason that we should first talk about the definition of so-called soft power, but it is a bit incredible. As the initiator of this concept, joseph nye did not give a clear definition of so-called soft power. However, we can summarize ourselves according to his description. In this book, joseph nye said, "Soft power makes others expect what you expect." Soft power is the ability to make others adjust their thoughts and wishes to your own.

Joseph nye added, "Soft power attracts people, not forces them to change." This sentence should be understood like this. If power can command and force others, then soft power can influence others through non-mandatory attraction, thus making it possible for them to make changes in line with your wishes.

In fact, whether in this book or in other works, joseph nye has repeatedly described and analogized, but never gave a clear definition of soft power that meets academic standards. However, the concept put forward by joseph nye is indeed widely accepted and applied today, which is a bit overdone. In this regard, joseph nye expressed both pleasure and frustration. He even said that since the concept was put forward, half of the academic activities were used to promote the concept, and the other half of the academic work was probably used to clarify the concept. Because some interpretations of the so-called soft power really deviate from the author's original intention, and some even run counter to it, it is necessary for us to say that soft power is "nothingness".

For example, the word "soft power" we hear today is usually used together with the word "culture"-cultural soft power. This usage focuses on cultural resources and concretizes abstract soft power. However, as we said before, soft power is an ability to influence others, and culture is only a means or medium to influence others. So culture is soft power, but equating soft power with culture actually narrows the scope of soft power.

Another common misunderstanding is to equate lifestyle with soft power. For example, when it comes to the soft power of the United States or the West, jeans and hamburgers are taken as representatives, which is also an inappropriate understanding.

There is also a simplified interpretation that hard power is material and soft power is spiritual. This is even more wrong. For example, nationalism is a spiritual thing, but it belongs to hard power, even hard power that will offset the country's soft power.

In addition, it is more misunderstanding and abuse. For example, life planning and emotional intelligence training are also packaged as soft power, and even personal spiritual strength is also called soft power. It is said that if you are firm enough and can withstand pressure, you will have soft power. These can almost be classified as "hot spots", so we won't spend much time refuting them. Therefore, although the concept of "soft power" or "soft power" can be touched in many places now, many of them are specious and even violate the original meaning of this concept.

From the above, I think we should have a general understanding of "soft power". Again, this is the ability to "influence others and make them adjust their thoughts and wishes to be consistent with you". It is not mandatory and does not directly point to a specific purpose; It is not simply equivalent to culture and lifestyle, nor is it a clear line with material and spirit.

So, what is the difference between soft power and hard power? We still have to go back to joseph nye, the inventor of the concept, to find a more thorough understanding, starting from the source of the concept.

In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union was teetering, and the status of the United States in the world was no longer the same. The book The Rise and Fall of Great Powers by Professor paul kennedy of Yale University is a best seller, and people are talking about the decline of the United States. However, joseph nye doesn't see it that way. He refused to accept the theory of American decline. He said that the United States was obviously weaker than 1.945 at the end of the 20th century, because the proportion of the United States in global output value changed from 1/3 after World War II to 1/5 in the 1980s. However, the crux of the problem lies in joseph nye's view that it is not the decline of the United States, but the great superiority of the United States after World War II that is abnormal. Many countries have experienced decades of development after the war and are returning to normal, and the proportion of the United States has only returned to the normal level of superiority. Regarding the theory of American decline, he said: "I feel that these predictions are wrong. In addition to its nuclear status, the United States has many power resources. I believe that the United States will still dominate in terms of military strength, economic strength and what I call' soft power' resources. "

This is the background of the word "soft power". So, what is the power that joseph nye is talking about here? What is the difference between hard power and soft power? What are their respective sources? This is the second content we want to introduce.

the second part

Joseph nye said that power is like love, which is easy to experience but difficult to measure. Power is the ability to control and dominate others, which can be achieved through compulsory or involuntary "influence". As we said before, soft power is affected, so the corresponding and mandatory is hard power.

In view of the fact that the ability to control others is often related to having certain resources, power is measured by indicators such as population, territory, natural resources, economic scale, military and political stability. Joseph nye takes playing poker as an example. In international relations, if your opponent's cards are bigger than any in your hand, you have to give up. If you knew you would lose the war, you wouldn't start it easily. However, international relations are not always so simple, because no one fully knows each other's cards and how they will play, so there are many cases in which the weak challenge the strong and the small country defeats the big country.

Of course, the status of these elements of state power is constantly changing. Joseph nye believes that in the18th century, population is the most critical, because in the agricultural economy and society, population is the source of strength and provides the basis for tax payment and conscription. At that time, France ranked first in western Europe, and Louis XIV and Napoleon stood out. It is precisely because of the population base of France that they have such capital. Later, industry and railways became important, so Bismarck's Prussia and later Germany became mainland powers. Later, in the nuclear age, science and technology became more important, so nuclear powers became the most powerful force in the world. But the cost of nuclear war is too high, so this is a paradox. The more useful power resources are, the less useful they are-nuclear weapons are the most useful power resources, but no one dares to throw atomic bombs.

Moreover, in many cases, countries cannot use force, because war may not work as a means. 1853, brigadier general matthew perry of the U.S navy led warships to Japan. At that time, they can make a gesture to threaten the Japanese rulers at that time, or they will go to war if they don't open their ports for trade. But today it is hard to imagine that the United States can force Japan to open its market by force.

Joseph nye also found that it is not worth the loss to obtain power resources through traditional military means. For example, he said that at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia offered to compensate the population and territory it lost in the war and let France cede the land, together with the people on it. As for whether these people can speak German or not, it doesn't matter whether they feel German or not. However, half a century later, nationalism became very important. At this time, if you seize the land of other countries through war, you may get trouble and hatred, not land and human resources. For example, after the 187 1 Franco-Prussian War, Germany occupied Alsace and Lorraine, and Germany and France became sworn enemies from then on, especially in World War I and World War II.

The above example shows that simple hard power looks simple and efficient, but if there is no supporting soft power to keep up, it will bury great hidden dangers. In addition, times have changed, and countries are seeking power resources by traditional means such as force, with higher and higher costs, worse effects and smaller benefits. Although force is far from being eliminated, countries should or have to fight, but the weight of hard power and soft power is changing in today's international affairs.

We say that power is the ability to dominate others, so these methods mentioned above are called hard power by joseph nye. Including but not limited to force, it can be summarized as "carrot" or "stick". Carrots are based on temptations, such as, "This is for you. Come here. " Sticks are based on threats, such as, "come here or I'll beat you!" " "No matter coercion or induction, it is essentially a kind of coercion, and the ability of this coercion is based on the hard indicators mentioned above, so the name' hard power' is very vivid.

The power resources of soft power are completely different. Joseph nye believes that common soft power resources are attractive culture, political values and systems, and policies that are regarded as legal or have moral authority. If a country represents the values that other countries expect to believe in, the cost of leading the trend in this country will be reduced. Therefore, if many countries in the world will consciously stand by and watch a country, this country will achieve leadership through soft power.

The author says that a country can achieve the expected results in world politics probably because other countries want to emulate it, envy its values, emulate its example, and are eager to reach its level of prosperity and openness. These are all soft power resources that a country can use to attract others, and they are as important as traditional hard power resources represented by means of force, threat and economic inducement. The absolute truth in this world is not who is in charge with thick arms.

Joseph nye thinks that soft power is the second side of strength. This metaphor is very vivid, just like people, they can scare each other through angry expressions or infect each other through smiling expressions. The behavior of a country is like singing opera, sometimes it is bad COP and sometimes it is bad COP. Soft power is the actor who sings the red face, honest, friendly and lovable. Soft power focuses on attracting people, not forcing them to change. If I can make you expect to do what I expect, then I don't need to force you to do these things. The expectation of a country in world politics can be realized because other countries are willing to follow.

Although soft power has various benefits, it is also a very complicated thing, which is difficult to control and elusive. Sometimes, even soft power can attract hard effects.

Joseph nye believes that the commercial marketing activities of American companies around the world have both attracted and resisted. The first protest points were McDonald's and Coca-Cola. He said that the US government can do nothing about it, because even if the US government promotes American elegant culture, such as libraries and art exhibitions, and uses them to offset the influence of American pop culture, it will not have any effect. Many aspects of American soft power are by-products of American society, not intentional by the government.

The American government can't control foreign countries' preference for American pop culture. Similarly, the United States can do nothing about foreign resistance to American culture. For example, in Iran, American culture will attract resistance, at least from the ruling class; In China, different social groups have different attitudes towards American culture. Some of them are attracted by American culture, while others are rejected by American culture, which offsets the soft power influence exerted by the United States on China through cultural means.

As for why? Is this phenomenon controllable? About these, joseph nye's book does not give the answer. His theory on soft power is less and case analysis is more, and he has not formed a soft power system for a long time.

Since soft power is so powerful and can benefit from invisibility, what is it made of? How to improve and strengthen? This is the third question we will talk about next.

the third part

Joseph nye defines soft power as a kind of ability, which is supported by various resources. They are what he often calls "soft power resources".

Joseph nye pays special attention to the important value of culture to soft power, and frequently takes American culture, especially popular culture, as an example to illustrate his soft power. He believes that American culture is a very useful soft power resource, which does not require too much investment, and American pop culture embodied in products and exchanges has a wide appeal. He gave some examples, such as Japanese young people who have never been to the United States wearing sportswear with the names of American universities; Even when the Nicaraguan government is fighting the guerrillas supported by the United States, Nicaraguan television still broadcasts American movies; Similarly, Soviet teenagers wear jeans and look around for American records.

Generally speaking, joseph nye is very confident in promoting American soft power through popular culture. He quoted the conclusions of two heavyweight scholars respectively. The first is Neil Rosendorf, a cultural historian. He said that the mass culture throughout the 20th century made other countries think that the United States was "exciting, strange, powerful, trend-setting, representing the forefront of modernity and innovation". Todd gitlin, another sociologist, said, "Our films and music celebrate freedom and a society that encourages upward mobility, informality, equality, freedom and vitality. In an era when people expect to share a beautiful American lifestyle, this kind of praise is attractive, and even political citizens realize that they should develop towards the goals of ecology, community and equality. " Of course, joseph nye also cautioned that these cultural products are often "full of vulgarity, pornography and violence".

When joseph nye proposed soft power, it was in the 1980s. At that time, Japan's economy developed rapidly, and American society regarded Japan as a threat, but joseph nye didn't think so. He said that although Japanese daily necessities production and cooking are more popular, they have less to do with "value attraction" than American-led mass communication, that is, people who use Japanese goods and eat Japanese materials do not necessarily agree with Japan in values. The success of Japanese manufacturing industry has provided it with important soft power resources, but Japan is limited by its cultural introversion to some extent. Japan is extremely successful in accepting foreign technology, but it is extremely reluctant to accept foreigners. This was joseph nye's judgment on the US-Japan relationship at that time. Today, when we observe the Sino-Japanese relationship, we will find that joseph nye's observation is in place.

Joseph nye also pointed out a pure material soft power resource, namely multinational corporations. He said: "Washington may have lost some jurisdiction over multinational companies headquartered in the United States, but their bosses hold American passports and can be summoned to appear in court by American courts. In case of war or national crisis, they will first listen to the call of Washington. At the same time, the US government has gained greater jurisdiction over foreign companies in the United States. "

Why are these companies willing to act according to the wishes of the United States? Joseph nye said, partly because their headquarters is located in the United States, and partly because of the huge value of the American market.

Information is also an important power resource, but in the information age, joseph nye believes that power does not belong to those who can create and master information. Because there is a "paradox of sufficiency", that is, rich information leads to poor attention. Because there is too much information, every piece of information gets less attention.

Therefore, in the information age, creating and mastering information does not necessarily bring soft power. Joseph nye believes that power belongs to those who edit, verify and organize information. For them, reputation is very important. Reputation is a key resource and an important source of soft power. Fame is more important than in the past, and the creation and destruction of fame has become the performance of political struggle.

The above five items are particularly important soft power resources in the eyes of the author. In this case, enhancing the "soft power" of a country or group is an important starting point. As for how to improve it, that is another too grand problem. There is not much discussion about this in the original book, so it will not be launched.

This part is about the composition of soft power. Joseph nye put forward and discussed many soft power resources, including multinational corporations, popular culture, values, institutional norms, policies, media, information and reputation. But are these all joseph nye's views on soft power? What are soft power resources and what are not? Where is its boundary? However, just as joseph nye did not give a clear academic definition of soft power, we still can't find the boundary given by joseph nye. Even outside this book, I can't find his key article published in Foreign Policy magazine, and the title of that article is Soft Power.

From this, we summarize and discuss how to treat this book and the theory of "soft power" put forward by the author.

Joseph nye made a wonderful description of soft power, which we have talked about twice before, that is, "soft power makes others expect what you expect." However, if we think about this sentence carefully, we will find that there are many ambiguities. We don't know what the so-called goal is limited, let alone what this expectation is. What does "other" mean, the government or the people? In international relations, it seems that the "other" of one country should be the government of another country, while joseph nye always refers to the people of other countries when giving examples.

Such confusion, joseph nye seems to disdain to answer. This is also one of the reasons why his soft power has caused many misunderstandings. He failed to give a complete and clear definition of soft power. He gave many examples to make us believe in soft power. However, when soft power comes into practical analysis, misuse is everywhere, just like those we mentioned earlier. Many people use their own understanding to define and summarize soft power, which makes the fuzzy boundary and connotation of soft power more blurred.

abstract

That's all we have to say about joseph nye's soft power theory. We introduced the concept of "soft power" from three levels.

The so-called soft power means "making others expect what you expect". That is to use influence instead of coercion to make others agree with and serve your goals. Then we talked about the scope of soft power, including but not limited to culture. Not all spiritual things are soft power. Popular clothing, diet and lifestyle are only the superficial manifestations of soft power, but they are far from all.

Then we compare soft power with hard power. Hard power is the traditional power resources such as population, property, force and economy, and the value of these resources is decreasing. As for the power resources of soft power, we talked about culture, multinational companies and markets, information, reputation and other aspects. Apart from the system and values we didn't talk about, these factors have become the power resources of soft power, which will play a greater role in today's and future society.

Finally, we discuss joseph nye's soft power theory. On the one hand, it is very original and can help us understand the driving force behind the world pattern. At the same time, there are still many ambiguities and imperfections in this theory, which the author has not clarified, which also leaves a lot of room for discussion.

After that, we can have a general understanding of the theory and application of soft power. Although the author is talking about theories and examples in the field of international politics, many of them can inspire our daily life. For example, letting others serve your goals through influence rather than coercion is a way to get twice the result with half the effort, and this requires you to show what attracts others, such as your knowledge level, logical level, life goals, values and ways and means of treating others. You can also strengthen your soft power by perfecting your "personal design" in these aspects.