DWA 283 Soft Power: How Nations Interact Without War

This course will study how the concept of soft power - first developed by Harvard professor Joe Nye - applies to interactions among nations in the 21st century. Soft power lies in the ability to attract and persuade, whereas hard power - the ability to coerce - grows out of a country's military or economic might, especially in an imperial/colonial period. Students will analyze how trade, culture (music, food, sports, language, education), environment, and political institutions (democracy, corruption, human rights, etc.) contribute to a country's soft power and make up its global brand. Students will analyze the current state of soft power in key nations and consider how countries and their citizens can affect the attractiveness of a country's culture, ideas, and institutions in order to raise its soft power. The course will introduce students to the idea of global sustainable diplomacy, which pursues global goals using soft, not hard, power.