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International Relations & Diplomacy vocabulary · Foreign Policy & the State

Soft power

Meaning in international relations & diplomacy, with examples

nounCommon term

In international relations & diplomacy, soft power means: A country's ability to influence others through attraction, such as its culture, values, education and policies, rather than through force or payment.

In Turkish: yumuşak güç

How it is used

The term was introduced by the American scholar Joseph Nye around 1990. Common in foreign policy and public diplomacy: films, universities, language courses and aid can all add to soft power. Its opposite is 'hard power'.

Example sentences

  1. Scholarships for foreign students are a classic tool of soft power.

  2. The country's television series have greatly increased its soft power in the region.

  3. The report ranks countries according to their soft power.

Common collocations

  • exercise soft power
  • source of soft power
  • soft power strategy
  • cultural soft power
  • hard powerA country's ability to make others act in a certain way through military force or economic pressure, such as threats, sanctions or payments.
  • public diplomacyEfforts by a government to inform and influence people in other countries directly, through media, culture, education and exchanges, not only through other governments.
  • foreign policyA government's goals and strategies for dealing with other countries and international organisations, and the decisions it takes to pursue them.
  • foreign aidMoney, goods, loans or expertise given by one country or organisation to another, usually to support development, respond to disasters or strengthen relations.

More terms: Foreign Policy & the State

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