Mr. Nye, who died on Tuesday, held several high -ranking positions, notably at the US Defense Ministry under Bill Clinton, and chaired the prestigious Kennedy School of Government at Harvard from 1995 to 2004.
Author of 14 books and countless articles, he highlighted the concept of “soft power” in the 80s. He refers to a diplomacy of influence or attraction as opposed to a coercion policy.
“The +soft power +, that is to say, bringing others to want the results you want, allows you to coopte people rather than forcing them,” he wrote in a book published in 2004 on the subject.
Recently questioned by AFP, Joseph Nye had made a severe judgment on Donald Trump, who since his return to power in January has set out to unravel the American “soft power”, with customs duties and with dismantling for example of the American agency for international development (USAID).
-“Trump does not really understand power. He only thinks in terms of coercion and payment,” he said in an email addressed to AFP in February.
However, “our success in the past eight decades has also been based on attractiveness,” he added.
“The American soft power has experienced cycles in the past,” he continued citing in particular the unpopularity of the United States during the Vietnam War.
“We will probably recover after Trump, but he damaged confidence in the United States,” concluded the specialist.
