Joseph Nye

Joseph S. Nye (born 1937) US academic and foreign policy analyst. Nye was, with Robert Keohane, one of the leading theorists of ‘complex interdependence’, which offered an alternative to the realist belief in international anarchy (Keohane and Nye 1977). In Bound to Lead (1990) and The Paradox of American Power (2002) he has emphasised the need for the USA to redefine the national interest in the light of developments such as globalization and the information revolution, recognizing that the new conditions of global interdependence placed a greater stress on multilateral cooperation. As he put it, the USA ‘can’t go it alone’. Nye has been particularly associated with the idea of ‘soft power’ (the ability to attract and persuade), a term he coined, and later with the notion of ‘smart power’, a blend of 'soft' and ‘hard’ power. Nye's other major works include Soft Power (2005), Understanding International Conflict (2008) and The Powers to Lead (2008).