By Gregorio Bettiza
Book Review: Inderjeet Parmar and Michael Cox eds., Soft Power and US Foreign Policy: Theoretical, Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, London, New York: Routledge, 2010.
The concept of ‘soft power’ has travelled far since it was first coined by Joseph Nye in his 1990 book, Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power. More recently, in the wake of rampant worldwide anti-Americanism, a botched Iraq war and faltering alliances, the Obama administra- tion came into office promising to restore America’s standing in the world and overtly embraced the notion of soft power and its more politically savvy cousin ‘smart power’. Hence, renewed attention has been con- ferred in policy and academic circles on the meaning and instruments of soft power, of which the excellent edited volume by Inderjeet Parmar and Michael Cox is a tangible demonstration…
Published:
London, New York: Routledge, 2010
DOI:
doi.org/10.1080/03932729.2010.527111
Online available:
www.tandfonline.com