Joseph S. Nye
Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Contact:
Telephone: (617) 495-1123
Fax: (617)-496-3337
Email: Joseph_Nye@harvard.edu
AP Photo
October 14, 2010
"The Future of Power"
Op-Ed, The Korea Herald
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"Much of the work of global governance will rely on formal and informal networks. Network organizations (such as the G20) are used for setting agendas, building consensus, coordinating policy, exchanging knowledge and establishing norms....To cope with transnational challenges, the international community will have to continue to develop a series of complementary networks and institutions to supplement the U.N. But if major countries are divided, it is unlikely that even networks like the G20 can set the agenda."
AP Photo
October 4, 2010
"The Pros and Cons of Citizen Diplomacy"
Op-Ed, New York Times
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"...[T]he goals and messages of civil-society actors are often not aligned with government policies. This gives rise to the paradox of using citizen diplomacy in a global information age — decentralization and diminished control may be central to the creation of soft power, but in an age where every phone is a camera and every computer is a photo shop, the obscure pastor of a small Florida church can also wreak havoc and destroy soft power by threatening to burn a Koran. In a democracy, such risk is unavoidable, and the best response may be the type of national conversation that eventually dissuaded the unruly pastor."
AP Photo
September 10, 2010
"Can Russia Be Great?"
Op-Ed, The Korea Times
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"Many Russian futures are possible. At one extreme, some view Russia as an industrialized banana republic whose corrupt institutions and insurmountable demographic and health problems make decline inevitable. Others argue that reform and modernization will enable Russia to surmount its problems, and that its leadership is headed in this direction."
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August 19, 2010
"The Closing of America's Borders May Close American Minds"
Op-Ed, Daily Star
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"Today the US is the world's third most populous country; 50 years from now it is still likely to be third (after only China and India). Not only is immigration relevant to economic power, but, given that nearly all developed countries are aging and face a burden of providing for older generations, it could help reduce the sharpness of the policy problem."
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August 11, 2010
"Tide to be Harnessed"
Op-Ed, Boston Herald
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"If the U.S. turned inward and seriously curtailed immigration, there would be consequences for America's position in the world. With its levels of immigration, America is one of the few developed countries that may avoid demographic decline and keep its share of world population, but this might change if reactions to terrorist events or xenophobia closed the borders."
AP Photo
July 12, 2010
"The Dollar and the Dragon"
Op-Ed, The Journal of Turkish Weekly
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"Judging whether economic interdependence produces power requires looking at the balance of asymmetries, not just at one side of the equation. In this case, interdependence has created a "balance of financial terror" analogous to the Cold War, when the US and the Soviet Union never used their potential to destroy each other in a nuclear exchange."
AP Photo
June 14, 2010
"The Future of Europe"
Op-Ed, The Korea Times
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"The EU's approach to sharing power, hammering out agreements, and resolving conflict by multiple committees can be frustrating and lacks drama, but it is increasingly relevant for many issues in a networked and interdependent world....In terms of economic power, Europe has the world's largest market, and represents 17 percent of world trade, compared to 12 percent for the U.S. Europe also dispenses half of the world's foreign assistance, compared to 20 percent for the U.S. But all this potential strength may be to no avail if Europeans do not solve the immediate problems stemming from financial markets' loss of confidence in the euro."
AP Photo
May 19, 2010
"China's Century is Not Yet upon Us"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"Unlike India, which was born with a democratic constitution, China has not yet found a way to solve the problem of demands for political participation (if not democracy) that tend to accompany rising per capita income. The ideology of communism is long gone, and the legitimacy of the ruling party depends upon economic growth and ethnic Han nationalism. Some experts argue that the Chinese political system lacks legitimacy, suffers from a high level of corruption and is vulnerable to political unrest should the economy falter. Whether China can develop a formula that can manage an expanding urban middle class, regional inequality and resentment among ethnic minorities remains to be seen."
May 2010
"Cyber Power"
Paper
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
Power depends upon context, and the rapid growth of cyber space is an important new context in world politics. The low price of entry, anonymity, and asymmetries in vulnerability means that smaller actors have more capacity to exercise hard and soft power in cyberspace than in many more traditional domains of world politics. The largest powers are unlikely to be able to dominate this domain as much as they have others like sea or air. But cyberspace also illustrates the point that diffusion of power does not mean equality of power or the replacement of governments as the most powerful actors in world politics.
AP Photo
April 11, 2010
"Health of American Politics"
Op-Ed, The Korea Times
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"Power conversion — translating power resources into effective influence — is a long-standing problem for the U.S. The Constitution is based on an 18th-century liberal view that power is best controlled by fragmentation and countervailing checks and balances."
