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
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."
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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?"
April 12, 2011
"A 2007 Trip to Libya"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"It is possible, however, that the mere presence of Harvard professors bolstered his confidence and determination to remain in power. If so, I regret such an unintended consequence of my visit, since I am on record supporting his overthrow and agree with President Obama's actions. But I suspect that for all Harvard's self-importance (which the Globe editorial echoes), there are more significant causes of Khadafy's intransigence today than the visit of a professor four years ago."
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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."
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March 25, 2011
"China's Repression Undoes Its Charm Offensive"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"After my lecture at Beijing University, a student asked how China could increase its soft power. I suggested that he ask himself why India's Bollywood films command far greater international audiences than do Chinese films. Does India have better directors and actors? When Zhang Yimou, the acclaimed Chinese director, was asked a similar question, he replied that films about contemporary China are neutered by the censors. I told the student that much of a country's soft power is generated by its civil society and that China had to lighten up on its censorship and controls if it wished to succeed."
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March 8, 2011
"Zakaria's World"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Foreign Policy
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"...China can draw on a talent pool of 1.3 billion people, but the United States not only draws on a talent pool of 7 billion, but can recombine them in a diverse culture that enhances creativity in a way that ethnic Han nationalism cannot."
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March 8, 2011
"America Should Not Prosecute Julian Assange"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
One-third of the world's population is now online. As we are seeing in the Middle East, this fact is changing global politics. An information revolution is shifting power away from states. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has called for "a serious conversation about the principles that will guide us" in such a world. She says she backs the "freedom to connect" for people everywhere, and calls on others in the Middle East and Asia to follow. But if she believes this, why is the US trying to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange?
