Confronting the Myth of Soft Power in U.S. Foreign Policy

Brent A. Lawniczak

doi:10.5771/9781666909531

Summary

The concept of soft power has caught the attention of policymakers, scholars, and political pundits for the last thirty years. Soft power studies most often focus on measures of public opinion toward a power-wielder and draw conclusions about a state’s level of soft power from that opinion. This research examines soft power influence by focusing on the elite discourse and the foreign policy decisions of states that are the target of soft power influence. Beginning with Joseph Nye’s conception that soft power is an attractive force that influences state policy decisions and its level of support for another state’s policies, Confronting the Myth of Soft Power in U.S. Foreign Policy examines whether U.S. soft power was part of key policymakers’ decision calculus. Soft power is tested against two plausible alternate explanations—balancing and state identity. Data from the discourse of key foreign policymakers in France and Germany indicate that U.S. soft power does not account for those states’ policy decisions to support U.S.-led policy interventions in Kosovo in 1999, or against ISIS in 2014. The results of this research are suggestive regarding the potential of soft power influence and its implications on scholarship and U.S. foreign policymaking.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2022
ISBN-Print: 978-1-6669-0952-4
ISBN-Online: 978-1-6669-0953-1
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 166
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. List of Tables No access
3. Acknowledgments No access
4. Disclaimer No access
5. List of Abbreviations No access
1. The Attractiveness of Soft Power No access
2. Potential Shortcomings of Soft Power Theory No access
3. Overview of Chapters and Major Findings No access
4. Contributions of This Book No access
5. Notes No access
1. Soft Power Defined No access
2. 1. Rationale for Examining Discrete Foreign Policy Events No access
3. Observable Implications of a Soft Power Explanation for Target State Policies No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. Notes No access
1. 1. Nonsupportive No access
  2. Supportive No access
2. 1. 1. How States Balance: External and Internal Balancing No access
    2. Balancing That Manifests as Support for the Applicant No access
  2. 1. German State Identity No access
    2. French State Identity No access
3. 1. Data Sources and Collection No access
  2. Relevant Actors: Key Target State Policymakers No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. Notes No access
1. Background No access
2. Evidence of Identity as a Primary Explanation for French Intervention in Kosovo No access
3. Balancing Explanation Disconfirmed: No Evidence of French Balancing Behavior No access
4. Soft Power Explanation Disconfirmed: No Evidence of U.S. Soft Power Influence No access
5. Conclusion No access
6. Notes No access
1. Background No access
2. Evidence Supporting an Identity Explanation for German Intervention in Kosovo No access
3. Insufficient Evidence to Support a Balancing Explanation No access
4. Evidence Disconfirming a Soft Power Explanation No access
5. Conclusion No access
6. Notes No access
1. Background No access
2. 1. Domestic Actions against the ISIS Threat: Support for the Balancing Explanation No access
3. Evidence Disconfirming a State Identity Explanation No access
4. Evidence Disconfirming a Soft Power Explanation No access
5. Conclusion No access
6. Notes No access
1. Background No access
2. Evidence: Balancing the Threat of ISIS and Germany’s Supranational Identity No access
3. Soft Power Explanation Disconfirmed: No Evidence of U.S. Soft Power Influence No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. Notes No access
1. Summary and Analysis No access
2. Scholarly Implications No access
3. Policy Implications No access
4. Limitations of the Study No access
5. Future Research No access
Bibliography No access Pages 135 - 158
Index No access Pages 159 - 164
About the Author No access Pages 165 - 166