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INTRODUCTION
Soft power, a term used in international relations and public diplomacy, was coined by Nye (1990) to describe co-optive power in contrast to hard power such as military actions. It refers to a country's ability to influence other countries' behaviour or 'the ability to shape what others want', without using hard or coercive power, which is 'the ability to change what others do' (Nye, 2004a). Nation branding, on the other hand, is a new area of interest in marketing that deals with a nation's effort to communicate to people in other countries. Both concepts are concerned with the nation's influence on the international stage and its image in the mind of international stakeholders. The main purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of soft power, with a particular focus on the nature and sources of soft power. A detailed comparison between soft and hard power is presented; the limitations of soft power and its link to nation branding are also discussed.
WHAT IS SOFT POWER?
According to Collins English Dictionary (2003), the word of power has the following meanings:
ability or capability to do something;
political, financial, social etc force or influence;
control or dominion or a position of control, dominion or authority.
Soft power, on the other hand, is a rather confusing concept. Nye does not give a simple definition. Instead, he describes soft power variously as (Nye, 2004a):
... the ability to shape the preferences of others (p. 5).
... the ability to attract, and attraction often leads to acquiescence (p. 6).
... the ability to get others to want the outcome you want because of your cultural or ideological appeal (p. 11).
A country may obtain the outcomes it wants in world politics because other countries -- admiring values, emulating its example, aspiring to its level of prosperity and openness -- want to follow it (p. 5).
... a key element of leadership. The power to attract -- to get others to want what you want, to frame the issues, to set the agenda (Nye, 2004b).
A person is said to have power due to having one of the following attributes or a combination of them: status, authority, reputation, money, knowledge and beauty (Davies, 1991). Individuals such as...