This book consists of essays selected from Joseph S. Nye, Jr.’s last three decades of writing and illustrate a variety of perspectives on the nature of power, the role of the United States in the world and US-China relations. Through this collection, it is hoped that readers will gain a better understanding of today’s global environment and find that while great power competition may be inevitable in a world as centers of power shift, cooperating to address transnational challenges can be a positive sum game.

The contents of this book are divided into four main parts. Part One discusses the origins and political progress of the concept of “Soft Power”. Part Two explores soft power in the American experience, its sources and interaction with US foreign policy, as well as its ebb and flow in the age of Obama, Trump and Biden. Part Three examines the rise of and the opportunities and difficulties for Chinese soft power, focusing on China’s investment in soft power and how this demonstrates its commitment to a peaceful rise. However, it also addresses the question of how can China get “smart” on how it uses soft power. Part Four provides a bird’s-eye view of power shifts in the 21st century and the interactions between the US as an established power and China as a rising power, while also reassuring readers that Thucydidean fears are unnecessary and a Cold War is avoidable. Both countries have to realize that some forms of power must be exercised with others, not over others, the development of soft power need not be a zero-sum game. Ultimately, the US-China relationship is a “cooperative rivalry” where a successful strategy of “smart competition” is necessary and cooperation on transnational challenges like climate change, pandemics, cyberterrorism and nuclear proliferation, will serve to benefit not only China and the US, but the world as a whole.

Why politics and international relations “seem” to be driven by power/strategies in some conditions but “seem” to be attached to values/beliefs in other situations? Based on findings in (political) psychology and international relations, the book builds a new political reasoning model: a two-layered motivation-heuristic complex.

A timely collection of studies about a highly topical issue, and one that is not likely to lose its salience any time soon. The authors have rich experience, both in the region and in academia, which helps shape their contributions in ways which are pragmatic, well informed and admirably focussed.

Why politics and international relations “seem” to be driven by power/strategies in some conditions but “seem” to be attached to values/beliefs in other situations? Based on findings in (political) psychology and international relations, the book builds a new political reasoning model: a two-layered motivation-heuristic complex.

A timely collection of studies about a highly topical issue, and one that is not likely to lose its salience any time soon. The authors have rich experience, both in the region and in academia, which helps shape their contributions in ways which are pragmatic, well informed and admirably focussed.

This book explores the phenomenon of soft power in international relations. In the context of current discourses on power and global power shift s, it puts forward a comprehensive taxonomy of soft power and outlines a methodological roadmap for its empirical study. To that end, the book classifies soft power into distinct components - resources, instruments, reception, and outcomes - and identifies relevant indicators for each of these categories.