This lecture covers discussion surrounding the concept of power, the place of soft power within broader discussions about power, and how soft power is operationalized.

1. Soft Power:
A Conceptual Appraisal of the Power of Attraction
in International Politics
By
Fidel Abowei, PhD

2. Important
texts
• J. Nye Jr., (2004) Soft Power: The
means to success in World Politics.
• I. Parmar and M. Cox (2010) Soft
Power and US Foreign Policy:
Theoretical, Historical and
Contemporary Perspectives.

3. Overview of Lecture
1. Power: a contested concept
2. Soft power vs hard Power
3. Soft power: multiple meanings
4. Operationalizing soft power

4. Lesson Objectives
1. Understand the foundations/origins of soft power and how this
has shaped its conceptual development.
2. Understand the sources of soft power and how soft power
works in international politics.

5. What is power?
In its simplest sense, power is the ability
to make a person do what you want
them to do, against their initial
preference(s). However, it remains a
contested concept, with so many
definitions within IR scholarship.
The works of Max Weber (1968 [1925]);
C. Wright Mills (1959); Talcott Parsons
(1986); Hannah Arendt (1986) are
particularly notable for advancing
different understandings of power.
Steven Lukes (2005 [1974]) “three
dimensional view” of power provides a
framework for bringing all these
definitions together under three faces of
power.

6. Three
dimensions/faces
of power
First face
According to Dahl (2005[1974]), “A has power over B, to the extent that
A can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do” through the
medium of threats, rewards, sanctions and even manipulation. In this
instance of power relations, B is aware of A actions and feels the
impact of A’s power.
Second face
According to Bachrach and Baratz (1962: 949), power is exercised
when “a person or group — consciously or unconsciously — creates
barriers to the airing of policy conflict by altering or setting the agenda”.
In this instance of power relations, A exercises power over B by setting
the agenda behind closed doors and precludes B from participating in
the decision-making process.
Third face
Lukes (2005) argues that Government can exert control over people
not only through the power of decision making and non-decision
making but also through ideological power. That is the formation and
alteration of public preferences by shaping their ideas, beliefs, and
desires. In this instance, B is mostly unaware of A’s actions or the
effects of A’s power.

7. What is hard and what is soft about power?
Hard Power Soft Power
First Face (Decision A relies on force/ bribes to
B’s strategies and behaviours.
A relies on attraction/ persuasion
to alter B’s exiting preferences.
Second Face (Agenda
Setting)
Regardless of B preferences, A
uses force/ bribes to truncate
agenda.
A uses attraction to make B see
the agenda as legitimate and
willingly support it.
Third Face (Thought A uses forces force/ bribes to
shape B’s preferences.
A uses attraction and/or
to shape B’s initial preferences.

8. What does this imply?
• Soft power is the ability to attract.
According to Nye (2011, 21), “it is the
ability to affect others through the co-
optive means of framing the agenda,
persuading, and eliciting positive
attractions in order to obtain preferred
outcomes”
• Hard power is coercive power.
According to Nye (2011, 20), when a
state relies on coercive tactics or
inducement to obtain preferred
outcomes in international politics, that
state is said to exercise hard power.
• Smart power is the combination of hard
and soft power.

9. Foundations of Soft
Power
The concept of soft power was coined in
1990 by Joseph S. Nye against the
backdrop of prevailing debates about the
decline of US global influence following the
end of the Cold War

10. Competing
conceptions of
soft power
Soft
power as
resources
Soft
power as
behaviour

11. soft power as resources
This approach to soft power is analogous to
most realists understanding of power, where a
state’s capability is reduced to measurable
elements of power. It is agent-centred.
it is synonymized with anything other than
military and economic power because of the
coercive application of these sources of power.
In other cases, it is synonymized with cultural
power or intangible elements of power.
It is often depicted as a normative concept (soft
power is good vs. hard power is bad).

12. Soft Power as behavior
• What separates soft power from hard
power is less about the tangibility or type of
resources, and more about behavior of a
state. (example: The threat of force is intangible whereas it
is a coercive behavior. Also, military resources are tangible
but may be used for such legitimate and benign purposes as
disaster relief and peace support operations)
• Every element of power can contribute to
soft power, but not any type of behavior.
• A state’s soft power hinges heavily on
perceptions of the target of power.
• It takes into consideration, the quality of
resources, the behavior of the agent of
power, and target perception to ascertain
what is hard or soft about power.

13. Operationalizing soft
power: How does soft
power work?
Context of
power
relationship
Available
Resources
Foreign
policy goals
Power
conversion
strategies
Targets or
subject
perceptions
Outcomes

14. Context of power relationship
Context is particularly important in understating soft power
because it allows for the consideration of the actors involved in
power relationships (scope of power) and the issues involved
(domain of power). In terms of scope, the image of a country
(enemy vs. ally image) and regional peculiarities are important
factors to consider.
Example 1: Marriage of convenience
The issues (development assistance and economic aid) involved
and the nature of relationship (cooperation in the absence of
conditionalities/ ally image) between China and African states
may likely explain China’s soft power in Africa.
Example 2: The terrible twos
The issue(s) (nuclear weapons) involved and the nature of
relationship (conflictual/ enemy image) between the US and
North Korea, makes it very difficult to envisage the effectiveness
of US soft power in the latter.

15. What resources produce soft power?
According to Nye (2004), soft power
emanates from three sources;
• Culture (in places where it is seen as
attractive)
• Political values (when a country lives
up to them at home and abroad)
• Foreign policy (when others see them
as legitimate and having moral
authority)
• To the extent that military and
economic resources are applied in the
context of a state’s foreign policy in
such a way that attracts and co-opts,
they are soft power resources.

17. Foreign policy
goals
• Policy-specific goals: regional
integration, voting in international
institutions, support for war efforts,
signing of trade agreements,
access to resources etc.
• Milieu goals or value objectives:
Creating an enabling environment
for policy initiatives. Examples may
be the promotion of democracy and
human rights.

18. power conversion strategies:
Behaviour of a state
• Persuasion (emotional and technical
arguments)
• Public diplomacy (educational exchanges,
• International broadcasting/ strategic
communication (e.g. Russia Today, Voice
of America etc.)
• Establishment of cultural centers (e.g.
China's Confucius institutes)
• Nation branding strategies
• Economic diplomacy (e.g. development
aid, technical cooperation/ assistance,
loans, positive sanctions, etc.)
• Military contacts (peace support
operations, joint military exercises,
personnel exchanges, etc.)
• Promotion of democracy and human rights

19. Targets or subjects of
soft power
The effectiveness of soft power is
heavily dependent on the target.
There are two sets of target:
1. Governments (direct effect)
2. Individuals (indirect effects)

20. Foreign policy
outcomes
Outcomes may be contemplated at three
levels — micro, meso and macro —
depending on the policy goal and target of
power. Two types of effects may be
anticipated:
Macro level: state actors
• Direct effects: In this instance, the leaders
of Country A may be attracted to or
persuaded by Country B as a result of
Country B’s actions, competence,
benignity, and even charisma.
Micro and meso level: Individuals and
institutional actors
• Indirect effects: In this instance, Country
A’s exercise of soft power is geared
towards publics and non-state actors in
Country B, who in turn exert pressure on
their leaders in favour of country A.

21. How do we measure
soft power?
• Public opinion polls may be used to
estimate overall perceptions of a
specific country in another.
• Consumption of cultural exports may
serve as an indicator of cultural
appeal.
• Inflow of foreign direct investment,
number of incoming tourists, and
number of incoming students may
indicate attractiveness of a country’s
political values and domestic policies.

22. Limitations of soft
power
• Soft power takes a long cultivation period.
• Attraction is in the eyes of the beholder so a
state’s effort may be futile.
• State’s are bent on immediate returns, and as
a result may not be disposed to the
cultivation of attraction.
• Most soft power resources exist outside the
purview of governments making it difficult to
wield.
• Although the cost of soft power is less than
hard power, it is difficult to wield, easy to lose,
and even more costly to re-establish.
• The impact of soft power across multiple
variables are difficult to isolate.
• In some authoritarian states, government
controls public opinion, especially in the
realm of foreign policy, rather than being
controlled by it.

24. Thank you!