Abstract
Smart power is defined as the effective combination of both hard and soft power. The concept is increasingly used in policy and academic debates, yet a clear understanding of what it actually means is still lacking. As a result, there is little serious consideration of how smart power can contribute to long-standing debates about power in international relations. This article seeks to clarify the meaning of smart power through first analyzing its main components – hard and soft power – separately; and second bringing these components together to re-conceptualize smart power. The aim is to make smart power more analytically useful, and to outline the various ways in which hard and soft power can be combined effectively. The author considers the case of Europe to argue that it is mainly a soft power and sometimes a smart power.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
S. Nossel first coined the term (2004).
As an aside, the use of the label ‘smart power’ is arbitrary – it could just as easily be called ‘hybrid power’ or something else – but I contend that that there is value in trying to create bridges to the policy world and to policy language.
References
Armitage, R. and Nye, J. (2007) CSIS Commission on Smart Power: A Smarter More Secure America. Washington DC: Center for Strategic & International Studies.
Baldwin, D. (2005) Power and international relations. In: W. Carlsnaes (ed.) Handbook of International Relations. London: Sage.
Cull, N.J. (ed.) (2009) Public diplomacy: Lessons from the past. In: CPD Perspectives on Public Diplomacy. Los Angeles, CA: Figueroa Press.
Hill, S. (2010) Europe's Promise: Why the European Way Is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
Ilgen, T. (2006) Hard Power, Soft Power and the Future of the Transatlantic Relationship. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Keohane, R. and Nye, J (2000) Globalization: What's new? What's not? (And so what?). Foreign Policy 118 (Spring): 104–119.
Laïdi, Z. (2008) Norms over Force: The Enigma of European Power. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Leonard, M. (2005) Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century. New York: PublicAffairs.
Manners, I. (2006) Normative power Europe reconsidered: Beyond the crossroads. Journal of European Public Policy 13 (2): 182–199.
Mattern, J. (2007) Why ‘soft power’ isn’t so soft: Representational force and attraction in world politics. In: F. Berenskoetter and M.J. Williams (eds.) Power in World Politics. New York: Routledge.
McCormick, J. (2006) The European Superpower. New York: Palgrave.
McCormick, J. (2010) Europeanism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Moravcsik, A. (2010) Europe: The second superpower. Current History 109 (725): 91–98.
Naughton, P. (2009) Hillary Clinton says ‘smart power’ will restore American leadership. The Times 13 January.
Nossel, S. (2004) Smart power. Foreign Affairs 83 (2): 131–142.
Nye, J. (2004) Soft Power. The Means to Success in World Politics. New York: Public Affairs.
Nye, J. (2007) Notes for a soft-power research agenda. In: F. Berenskoetter and M.J. Williams (eds.) Power in World Politics. New York: Routledge.
Nye, J. (2008) The Powers to Lead. New York: Oxford University Press.
Nye, J. (2009a) Get smart: Combining hard and soft power. Foreign Affairs 88 (4): 160–163.
Nye, J. (2009b) Smart power. New Perspectives Quarterly 26 (2): 7–9.
Nye, J. (2011) The Future of Power. New York: Public Affairs.
Reid, T.R. (2005) The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy. London: Penguin.
Rettman, A. (2011) EU institutions hit back at markets, ratings agencies. euobserver.com, 20 October, doi: http://euobserver.com/19/113999.
Risse, T. (2010) A Community of Europeans? Transnational Identities and Public Spheres. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Schmidt, B. (2005) Realist conceptions of power. In: F. Berenskoetter and M.J. Williams (eds.) Power in World Politics. New York: Routledge.
Waltz, K. (1979) Theory of International Politics. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Wendt, A. (1999) Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wilson, E. (2008) Hard power, soft power, smart power. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 616 (1): 110–124.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cross, M. Europe, a smart power?. Int Polit 48, 691–706 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/ip.2011.28
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ip.2011.28