Joseph S. Nye

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November 9, 2009

"Who Caused the End of the Cold War?"

Op-Ed, The Huffington Post

By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor

"Ultimately the deepest causes of Soviet collapse were the decline of communist ideology and the failure of the Soviet economy. This would have happened even without Gorbachev. In the early Cold War, communism and the Soviet Union had a good deal of soft power. Many communists had led the resistance against fascism in Europe, and many people believed that communism was the wave of the future....Although in theory communism aimed to instill a system of class justice, Lenin's heirs maintained domestic power through a brutal state security system involving lethal purges, gulags, broad censorship, and the use of informants. The net effect of these repressive measures was a general loss of faith in the system."

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Summer 2009

"Hard Decisions on Soft Power: Opportunities and Difficulties for Chinese Soft Power"

Magazine or Newspaper Article, Harvard International Review, issue 2, volume 31

By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and Wang Jisi

"But just as China's economic and military power does not yet match that of the United States, China's soft power still has a long way to go as demonstrated by a Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll. China does not have cultural industries like Hollywood, and its universities are not yet the equal of the United States. It lacks the many non-governmental organizations that generate much of US soft power. Politically, China suffers from corruption, inequality, and a lack of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. While that may make the "Beijing consensus" attractive in authoritarian and semi-authoritarian developing countries, it undercuts China's soft power in the West. Although China's new diplomacy has enhanced its attractiveness to its neighbors in Southeast Asia, the belligerence of its hard power stance toward Taiwan hurt it in Europe when China sought to persuade Europeans to relax their embargo on the sale of arms. Given the domestic problems that China must still overcome, there are limits to China's ability to attract others, but one would be foolish to ignore the gains the country is making."

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October 13, 2009

"U.S., Russia Must Lead on Arms Control"

Op-Ed, Politico

By General Brent Scowcroft, Editorial Board Member, Quarterly Journal: International Security, Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, Harvard Kennedy School and Strobe Talbott

"The Nobel Peace Prize Committee cited Obama's dedication to arms control and nonproliferation when announcing last Friday his selection as this year's laureate. If he creates a positive, mutually reinforcing dynamic in the way he presents and sequences the two treaties [NPT and CTBT], it will give momentum and coherence to follow-on negotiations and the agreements that they produce."

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October 13, 2009

"Obama's Nuclear Agenda"

Op-Ed, Daily News Egypt

By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor

"So long as the world remains a dangerous place with several nuclear weapons states, Obama must reassure its allies about the credibility of American guarantees of extended deterrence. Otherwise, reductions that create anxieties in other countries could lead them to develop their own weapons and thus increase the number of nuclear weapons states."

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September 14, 2009

"American Power in 21st Century"

Op-Ed, The Korea Times

By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor

The problem for American power in the 21st century is that there are more and more things outside the control of even the most powerful state. Although the U.S. does well on military measures, there is much going on that those measures fail to capture.

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August 12, 2009

"Making of Great Communicators"

Op-Ed, The Korea Times

By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor

As president, Obama continues to communicate effectively, but an American president has a problem of dual audiences. Sometimes rhetoric that fares well at home — such as Bush's second inaugural address — sounds hypocritical to foreign ears. In contrast, Obama's inaugural address was well received both at home and abroad....[B]ut effective leadership is also communicated by actions and policies. At this stage, it is too early to determine whether Obama's policies will reinforce or undercut the effects of his words.

As we await the results, it helps to remember the complexity of the relation between effective leadership and communications.

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July 14, 2009

"Will US-Japan Alliance Survive?"

Op-Ed, The Korea Times

By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor

"...[T]he U.S.-Japan alliance will have to face a new set of transnational challenges to our vital interests, such as pandemics, terrorism, and human outflows from failed states. Chief among these challenges is the threat posed by global warming, with China having surpassed the U.S. as the leading producer of carbon-dioxide emissions (though not in per capita terms)."

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July 6, 2009

"On Robert McNamara"

Op-Ed, The Huffington Post

By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor

"...I assign the Errol Morris film The Fog of War to my students in a course about leadership and ethics in foreign policy. What the film shows is a man who belatedly realized his frailties and decided to warn a younger generation not to repeat his mistakes. Many former policy makers spend their time after office trying to cast their actions in the best possible light for history. Bob was a rare exception in exposing his mistakes...."

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June 25, 2009

"Joseph Nye's Testimony from Hearings on 'Japan's Changing Role'"

Testimony

By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor

Joseph S. Nye testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment on "Japan's Changing Role" on June 25, 2009.

AP Photo

June 12, 2009

"How Do You Teach and Learn Successful Leadership in a Democracy?"

Op-Ed, Daily Star

By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor

"[W]hatever the failures of particular British legislators, the issues go further than merely allowing voters to "throw the rascals out." There is also a question of how successful leadership is taught and learned in a democracy. A successful democracy requires leadership to be widespread throughout government and civil society. Citizens who express concern about leadership need to learn not only how to judge it, but how to practice it themselves."