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
August 4, 2011
"Democracy's Drama in Terrorism's Theater"
Op-Ed, CNN.com
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"Terrorists hope to create a climate of fear and insecurity that will provoke liberal democracies to harm themselves by undercutting their quality in terms of their own values. Preventing new terrorist attacks while understanding and avoiding the mistakes of the past will be essential if we are to preserve and support liberal democracy both at home and abroad."
AP Photo
August 4, 2011
"The Right Way to Trim"
Op-Ed, New York Times
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"At the height of the cold war, President Dwight D. Eisenhower decided against direct military intervention on the side of the French in Vietnam in 1954 because he was convinced that it was more important to preserve the strength of the American economy. Today, such a strategy would avoid involvement of ground forces in major wars in Asia or in other poor countries."
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July 20, 2011
"Another Overhyped Challenge to U.S. Power"
Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"In political terms, China, India and Russia are competitors for power in Asia. Russia worries about China's proximity and influence in Siberia, and India is worried about Chinese encroachment into the Indian Ocean as well as their Himalayan border disputes. As a challenge to the United States, BRICS is unlikely to become a serious alliance or even a political organization of like-minded states."
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July 4, 2011
"Should China Be 'Contained'?"
Op-Ed, CNN.com
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"Such fears appear exaggerated, particularly when one considers that Asia is not one entity. It has its own internal balance of power. Japan, India, Vietnam, and other countries do not want to be dominated by China, and thus welcome a U.S. presence in the region."
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June 9, 2011
"Syria Can Prove that Sanctions Do Work"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"As the death toll in Syria approached 1,000, President Barack Obama finally announced sanctions against the regime. His move stopped Americans doing business with President Bashar al-Assad, along with certain relatives and officials, and froze their US assets. Cynics scoffed, repeating the conventional wisdom that sanctions don't work. In fact they can make a big difference and, with Syrian violence worsening, the time is right for more."
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June 6, 2011
"Has Economic Power Replaced Military Might?"
Op-Ed, CNN.com
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"Markets and economic power rest upon political frameworks, which in turn depend not only upon norms, institutions, and relationships, but also upon the management of coercive power. A well-ordered modern state is one that holds a monopoly on the legitimate use of force, and that allows domestic markets to operate. Internationally, where order is more tenuous, residual concerns about the coercive use of force, even if a low probability, can have important effects — including a stabilizing effect."
AP Photo
May 9, 2011
"American Power after Bin Laden"
Op-Ed, The Korea Herald
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"...[P]ossession of power resources does not always imply that one can get the outcomes one prefers. Even the recent death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of United States special forces does not indicate anything about American power one way or the other."
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April 12, 2011
"The War on Soft Power"
Op-Ed, Foreign Policy
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"It is true that the U.S. military has an impressive operational capacity, but the practice of turning to the Pentagon because it can get things done leads to the image of an over-militarized foreign policy. Moreover, it can create a destructive cycle, as the capacity of civilian agencies and tools gets hollowed out to feed the military budget. Today, the United States spends about 500 times more on its military than it does on broadcasting and exchanges combined. Congress cuts shortwave broadcasts to save the equivalent of one hour of the defense budget. Is that smart?"
AP Photo
April 7, 2011
"From Lone Ranger to Smart Arranger"
Op-Ed, Politico
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"...Obama was careful not to create a global narrative of a third U.S. military attack on a Muslim country, which would have reverberated from Morocco to Indonesia. Instead, he waited until the Arab League and U.N. Security Council resolutions provided a narrative of a legitimate enforcement of humanitarian responsibility to protect civilians."
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April 6, 2011
"U.S.-China Relationship: A Shift in Perceptions of Power"
Op-Ed, Los Angeles Times
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"It is likely that China's leaders will draw back somewhat from the overly assertive posture that has proved so costly. Hu's stated desire to cooperate on terrorism, nonproliferation and clean energy should help reduce tensions, but powerful domestic interest groups in export industries and the People's Liberation Army want to limit economic and military cooperation. And most important, given the increasing nationalism of the Chinese people that one sees on display in the blogosphere, it will be difficult for top Chinese leaders to change their policies dramatically."
