Revising the soft power concept: what are the means and mechanisms of soft power?

Abstract

The power of attraction (soft power), as developed by Joseph Nye, has been increasingly discussed in international relations literature and policy, yet soft power has not been fully utilized because of under‐specified tools and mechanisms by which soft power influences international actors. This article revises the concept of soft power by generating a continuum of power based on the tools useful for implementing different degrees of soft or hard power. In addition, the article describes two mechanisms through which soft power influences international actors, beginning the call for exploration of other such mechanisms. Reconceptualizing soft power in terms of objects that are controlled and utilized by policy‐makers, such as agenda‐setting and framing, provides us with more useful analytical variables to understand international relations and to provide policy recommendations.

Keywords:

• soft power
• concept validity
• agenda‐setting
• framing
• foreign policy

Acknowledgments

A previous version of this article was presented at the International Studies Association Annual Meeting in 2007 in Chicago, Illinois (February 28–March 2). I thank Jack Porter, William Muck, Michael Cairo, John Dreyer, Ronald Mitchell, Craig Parsons, Lars Skalnes, two anonymous reviewers, and Mark Haugaard, editor of the Journal of Political Power, for their comments and suggestions.

Notes

1. A similar definition is introduced by Wagner (2005), but Wagner focuses on India’s shifting foreign policy strategy rather than explicating this soft power concept.

2. Other scholars have further expanded on the origins of this fear within theories of human evolution and group selection (Thayer 2004).

3. See Sprinz and Vaahtoranta (1994) for more on state‐interest driven policy without reference to frames.