Hard Power Vs Soft Power Essay

States have long sought to use a broad range of tools to achieve their foreign policy goals and thus reinforce their international position. This can lead to conflicts with its neighbours and competitors on a local or even global scale, creating a negative or positive image of the country abroad. In the late twentieth century American political scientist Joseph Nye divided states influence and use of power into two categories: Hard Power (HP) and Soft Power (SP). HP is the ability to achieve foreign policy interests through military and economic power; while SP is the ability of a state to engage and achieve its objectives through influencing culture, social and political values. SP is the- “….the ability to do that by attraction and persuasion rather than by coercion." .

SP - is not only about "the influence”, but is also about “appeal” or attractive power. According to Nye, SP in international relations is a method that is meant to "inspire and attract" with the use of appropriate sources of influence, allowing a nation to achieve the desired result. Thus, governments base their policies on the attractiveness of ideas, and the ability to ‘shape the situation’ this
According to Nye, SP is a daily work "on the ground" and not "outside", aimed at building a long-term trusting relationship. US have a very strong soft power influence on the world, Nye, in particular, stresses that US Culture “(Hollywood movies, for example) and personal contacts, and the nation’s policies, has proven a most effective propaganda tool and is evident when one reflects upon the fact that these values are widely shared around the world. Thus Nye argues, the United States won the Cold War in particular because of the attractiveness of American values, or through the use of American soft power”