Joseph S. Nye Jr. Quotes & Sayings

The short answer to our question is that we are not entering a post-American world. It is not possible for this (or any) book to see "the future," because there are so many possible futures dependent on unpredictable events and they play a larger role the further out one tries to look. Thus it is important to specify a time horizon. For example, if the "American century" began in 1941, will the United States still have primacy in power resources and play the central role in the global balance of power among states in 2041? My guess is "yes." In that sense, the American century is not over, but because of transnational and non-state forces, it is definitely changing in important ways that are described below. But first, we must look at the charge that the United States is in decline. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

When you can get others to admire your ideals and to want what you want, you do not have to spend as much on sticks and carrots to move them in your direction. Seduction is always more effective than coercion, and many values like democracy, human rights, and individual opportunities are deeply seductive. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

Power is also like love, easier to experience than to define or measure, but no less real for that. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

A more serious concern would be if the United States turned inward and seriously curtailed immigration. With its current levels of immigration, America is one of the few developed countries that may avoid demographic decline and keep its share of world population, but this might change if reactions to terrorist events or public xenophobia closed the borders. Fears over the effect of immigration on national values and on a coherent sense of American identity have existed since the early years of the nation. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

I want you to carry this question home with you: gain such a victory, and what do you do with it? — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

A moral vision must be balanced by the realist dimension of prudence to have a reasonable prospect of success. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

What is soft power? It is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments. It arises from the attractiveness of a country's culture, political ideals, and policies. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

Information is power, and modern information technology is spreading information more widely than ever before in history. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

The world is neither unipolar, multipolar, nor chaotic - it is all three at the same time. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

Terrorism, like theater, is a competition for audience. Shocking events are designed to capture attention, polarize, and provoke overreactions from their targets. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

In 2009, polls showed an impressive "revival of America's global image in many parts of the world reflecting confidence in the new president."53 One poll-based assessment of brand values even suggested the Obama effect was worth $2 trillion in brand equity. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

Smart power is neither hard nor soft. It is both. Joseph — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

During the twentieth century, America recorded its highest percentage of foreign-born residents in 1910: 14.7 percent of the population. A century later, about 40 million people or nearly 13 percent of Americans today are foreign-born citizens. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

When Russia had disputes with neighbors such as Ukraine over gas prices, it did not hesitate to cut off gas supplies as a form of economic power. Later, when a more sympathetic government came to power in Ukraine, Russia used the lure of heavily discounted gas prices to obtain the extension of its lease of a naval base in Ukraine, thus complicating the prospect that Ukraine might one day join NATO. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

Globalization has made national boundaries more porous but not irrelevant. Nor does globalization mean the creation of a universal community. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

Weber warns that "he who seeks the salvation of the soul, his own soul and others, should not seek it along the avenue of politics. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.

power is the ability to influence the behavior of others to get the outcomes one wants. — Joseph S. Nye Jr.