Soft power frames US dominance as attractiveness rather than coercion
Evidence
Toward the end of the 1990s, the Clinton administration stated that the United States was an “indispensable nation” and that because of its unmatched power and its values it could “stand taller and see farther” than others. Therefore, its dominance of the world was necessarily benign: it was not based on coercion but rather on the attractiveness of American values, commodities, and popular culture. This is what Joseph Nye refers to as “soft power.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 472
Categorization
Category: Definitional Content
- DEFINE: Explains the origins of Joseph Nye’s “soft power” concept as Clinton-era self-justification.
- CANDY: A light, shareable point: “soft power” was born from the Clinton administration’s claim that it could “stand taller and see farther” than other nations.