The book, Soft Power and Great Power Competition: Shifting Sands in the Balance of Power Between the United States and China, by Joseph S. Nye, is the fifth volume in the series China and Globalization. This series examines China’s role in global security, economy, governance, and development from a broad perspective. It analyses the shifting balance of power within the international system, the transformation of institutional structures, and the dynamics of the multipolar world order.
The transformation in the global balance of power and China’s growing influence requires a reassessment of the concept of power in the context of international relations literature. This book, which includes essays on the post Cold War period by Nye, one of the leading theorists of the concept of soft power, and the transcript of an online interview conducted with Nye as part of the “China and World” webinar series organized by the Center for China and Globalization in 2021, provides an important theoretical framework for understanding the changing global dynamics.
The main purpose of this book is to analyze how the U.S., an established power, and China, a rising power, deploy soft power in a manner that extends beyond the conventional domains of power (military and economic). Furthermore, the book seeks to elucidate the nature of the competition between these two powers in this domain. The book consists of four main parts. The initial section of the book examines the theoretical framework of soft power and power shifts in the 21st century. The subsequent section analyses the deployment of soft power by the U.S. in foreign policy, with a focus on the Obama and Biden Administrations. The third part analyses China’s global rise and the s
