Joseph S. Nye, Jr., on Chinese power, US politics, the new cold war, and more by Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

Jul 26, 2023

This week in Say More, PStalks with Joseph S. Nye, Jr., a professor at Harvard University, a former US assistant secretary of defense, and the author, most recently, of Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump (Oxford University Press, 2020).

Project Syndicate: A pivotal moment in the emergence of "soft power" – a term you coined – as a widely accepted foreign-policy concept occurred in 2007, when then-Chinese President Hu Jintao told the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that the country must develop it. Chinese officials then contacted you privately to seek advice on how to go about it. To what extent did China heed your advice, particularly with regard to the developing world, and is that changing under Xi Jinping?

Joseph S. Nye, Jr.: Soft power is the ability to get what you want through attraction, rather than coercion or payment. China derives soft power from its traditional culture, its impressive economic performance, and its aid programs. But it has at least two liabilities that are undermining its ability to generate soft power.

First, China lacks an open civil society – a key source of attractiveness – owing to the CPC's insistence on maintaining tight control over people's lives and opportunities for independent voluntary association. Second, China maintains – and stokes – tensions and conflicts with its neighbors, often over territorial issues. A Confucius Institute in New Delhi can do nothing to boost China's attractiveness if Chinese troops are killing Indian soldiers on their disputed Himalayan border.

To continue reading, register now.

Subscribe now for unlimited access to everything PS has to offer.

Subscribe

As a registered user, you can enjoy more PS content every month – for free.

Register

Already have an account? Log in

Access every new PS commentary, our entire On Point suite of subscriber-exclusive content – including Longer Reads, Insider Interviews, Big Picture/Big Question, and Say More – and the full PS archive.

Subscribe Now

Writing for PS since 2002 247 Commentaries

Follow

Joseph S. Nye, Jr., a professor at Harvard University and a former US assistant secretary of defense, is the author, most recently, of Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump (Oxford University Press, 2020).

Before posting a comment, please confirm your account. To receive another confirmation email, please click here.

China wins the soft power race by default. The US has left the race and is (justifiably) reviled. In the US, men wear dresses and beer cans have men pretending to be women on them. Of course, China has built 25,000 miles of HSR. The US has built zero. Should I mention that a US university nominated a man as 'NCAA Woman of the year'?