Soci-Political Concepts

Question 1

What does “Soft Power” mean?

Answer 1

Soft power is a concept developed by Joseph Nye of Harvard University to describe the ability to ATTRACT and CO-OPT rather than coerce, use force or give money as a means of persuasion.

Recently, the term has also been used in changing and influencing social and public opinion through relatively less transparent channels and lobbying through powerful political and non-political organizations.

In 2012, Nye explained that with soft power, “the best propaganda is not propaganda”, further explaining that during the Information Age, “credibility is the scarcest resource”.