Soft Power Embroidered Hat

The primary currencies of soft power are an actor's values, culture, policies and institutions—and the extent to which these "primary currencies", as Nye calls them, are able to attract or repel other actors to "want what you want."[5] In 2008, Nye applied the concepts of hard and soft power to individual leadership in "The Powers to Lead". In any discussion of power, it is important to distinguish behaviour (affecting others to obtain the preferred outcomes) from the resources that may (or may not) produce those outcomes. Sometimes people or countries with more power resources are not able to get the outcomes they wish. Power is a relationship between an agent and a subject of power, and that relationship will vary with different situations. Meaningful statements about power must always specify the context in which the resources may (or may not) be converted into behaviour. Soft power is the ability to obtain what one wants through co-option and attraction. It can be contrasted with 'hard power', that is the use of coercion and payment. Soft power can be wielded not just by states, but by all actors in international politics, such as NGOs or international institutions.[1] The idea of attraction as a form of power dates back to ancient Chinese philosophers such as Laozi in the 7th century BC.[2] "Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong." Lao Tzu