The Future of Power by Joseph Nye - Book Report/Review Example

Book Review. Nye, Joseph S. The Future of Power. New York: Public Affairs, 2011. 298 pp. Joseph Nye’s book is an excellent discussion about what power means in the twenty first century. It starts off by pointing out that power is not just a matter of military strength and the threat of war, but something much more diverse and subtle. He defines three main categories of power: military, economic and “soft power,” and explains how different situations require the application of different types of power. Towards the end of the book he describes also a new concept called “smart power” which is the ability to use different types of power in combination for maximum effect. This comparative approach gives the reader an insight into the complexities of the modern world, and the various options that states, organizations and individuals have at their disposal. The description of military power emphasizes the fact that having a huge army was never a guarantee of supremacy in war. Advances in technology can give a weaker force the edge in battles, and he mentions the stirrup in Ghengis Khan’s army and the gun in the conquest of South America (p. 27) as examples of key inventions that rendered the equipment of the opposite side obsolete. One of the great strengths of the book, however, is that the author steadfastly refuses to generalize about global power. He stresses the importance of each individual context, such as the tribal conflicts of Africa where war is a logical and effective tactic used by smaller units to try and gain territory or pursue cultural and economic agendas. For a large and highly technical country like the United States, however, the military option may be so expensive, and indeed unpopular with the citizens, that it is not usually the first or best option. There are also positive aspects to the deployment of military personnel, as for example in peacekeeping or disaster relief missions, and so even the use of military power is shown to be a complex undertaking. Economic power is perhaps the most obvious type at work in the modern world. Nye explains this from a Marxist point of view, showing how manipulating the flow of capital is a way of controlling the behavior of people. He also shows it from a Capitalist point of view, since it takes huge resources to fund any exercise of military power, and depriving the opponent of these resources, or supplying an ally with assistance can be more effective than weighing in with a trained army, for example. The use of sanctions by states and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is another common strategy that relies on economic power and Nye defines these as “measures of encouragement of punishment designed to reinforce a decision or make a policy authoritative” (p.71). This type of power requires an underpinning of political negociation, which leads us to the third type of power in Nye’s book, and the most interesting: soft power. The term “soft power” sounds like something of a contradiction, because people tend to think of power in terms of the use of force. Nye believes that the label of soft power is new, but the kind of behavior it refers to is very old indeed. He cites the ancient Chinese theories of Lao-tzu, who believed that a leader is best “not when people obey his commands, but when they barely know he exists.” (p. 81) Soft power often happens behind the scenes, in quiet conversations between individuals or in formal diplomatic processes that give opponents time to sit down and work through solutions to their differences. The information age, with its ease of travel and instant means of communication across large distances, makes the use of soft power much easier than it used to be, and so he argues that this type of power is likely to be very popular in the years ahead. By thinking about power in terms of these three categories Nye opens up a way of analyzing the past that looks behind the standard narratives of the history books. The suggestion that the United States joined the Second World War on the side of the British and French largely because of soft power, is an intriguing one, and it illustrates how important intangible human elements can be, even, or perhaps especially, in situations of extreme tension. Nye’s book is scholarly, and it deals with some quite advanced concepts over a wide range of historical examples. Now and then he produces pithy little statements that encapsulate very difficult concepts, such as the following everyday analogy: “Power is not good or bad per se. It is like calories in a diet; more is not always better.” (p. 207) This writing style shows that Nye has the gifts of a good teacher: he uses these ordinary concepts to help people grasp the complex nature of power in the modern world. His style is readable, even for the non-specialist, and it gives penetrating insights in a clear and memorable way. His explanation of the ways in which social media are affecting authoritarian leadership, for example, adds to our understanding of global shifts in ideas. His work on this point appears to have been prophetic, because now across the Middle East we can see Arab leaders responding to facebook campaigns, and waking up to a new world where their power is being questioned, not just by outsiders, but by their own people. Leaders who once stood aloof from their people, seeing no need for democratic processes, are now seeing the power that comes from below, and it is making them develop different styles of response. If the book has a fault, it may be that it is very pro-American, citing examples from American history more than other histories, and assessing America’s capabilities in a somewhat biased way. His pronouncements on supposed Chinese and Russian government collusion with hackers and denial of service on the internet, on the other hand, suggest that these countries are in some way less moral than the United States, even though he admits that “proof of the origin or motive of such attacks is often very difficult (p.127). This seems harsh, and especially since there is no criticism of American style capitalist greed which has seen poorer countries devastated by multinational companies which have their origin in the United States. The only mention of capitalism in the whole book concerns “Russia’s robber baron capitalism” (p. 170) which lacks regulation and is blamed for Russia’s current difficulties. It would have been more helpful, especially for an international audience, if the book had shown more awareness of the abuse of power that has occurred across the world, in the United States as well as in other countries. As it is, the book does rather reinforce the idea that the leaders of the United States have a tendency to leap into things with a self-confidence and authority that they may not actually have earned in the eyes of those whom they meet across the world. The greatest strength of the book is probably its formulation in the third and final section of the concept of “smart power.” Here Nye begins to address the real topic of his book which is suggested in the title: how countries will wield power in the future. He rightly points out the growing complexity of globalization, and the pressing need to find strategic and flexible policies that can adapt to quickly changing situations. The phrase he uses to describe the skill that is needed in order to wield smart power is “contextual intelligence” (p. 299), and he clearly predicts a role for the United States of global leadership, using smart power to pursue its own strategic objectives. In summary then, this is a thoughtful, if somewhat biased book, that explores what it means to wield power in the modern world. Read More