Joseph Nye coined the term soft power in the late 1980s.
Simply put, soft power is a nation's ability to persuade others to do what it wants without force or coercion.
Nye states the world's most successful nations need both hard and soft power -- the ability to coerce others as well as the ability to shape their long-term attitudes and preferences.
Nye initially set out three primary sources of soft power: political values, culture, and foreign policy.
Traditionally, power in international relations is easily measurable metrics in inflexible terms - think military and economic might.
Soft power makes use of tactics that are often hard to measure, can take years to bear fruit, and aren't as sexy as a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
But today, soft power matters more than ever and shuns carrots and sticks.
Soft power succeeds in building relationships, using communications and storytelling, operating under universal international rules, and harnessing a nation's unique resources that make a country attractive to the greater world.
The United States can undoubtedly dominate others through money and might, but America has excelled in using soft power.
From companies like Apple, foundations like Charity Water, universities like Stanford, to sports leagues like the National Basketball Association, America is a soft power hothouse.
When I read about the Thucydides Trap leading the US and China down a path to increased competition and possibly even war, I think no.
If the US can't succeed with Walt Disney World, Levi's, Tesla, Harvard, Serena Williams, Coca-Cola, Run DMC, Kelly Slater, and Detroit-style pizza, then what are we doing?
Sitting in London Heathrow a few years back, I was observing a family from Norway. The kids dressed in Under Armour, the parents were wearing smart casuals from the GAP, and the entire crew was teched-out in designed-in California Apple swag.
It was the all-American family living in Oslo.
US culture and aspirations have been influential in helping the US government secure partners and enhance alliances.
Sure there are limits of soft power: it tends to have diffuse effects like jello, and sometimes it is not skillfully wielded to achieve specific outcomes.
However, US economic success and security hinges as much on winning hearts and minds as it does on winning wars.
Plus, with more of the world easily accessed by trans-continental flights and the internet, countries like Germany, Canada, South Korea, India, and China are all using the same tools and tactics to improve their strength and influence.
Game on.
