Smart Power: Definitions, Importance, and Effectiveness

Abstract The analyses of smart and soft power have developed little beyond what their critics would refer to as ‘soft theory’, and in both cases the theoretical development is less than ‘smart’. This article attempts to address these deficiencies in the theoretical development of smart power by: (1) articulating a more rigorous and systematic understanding of the processes of smart power; (2) explaining how changes in world politics have raised the value of smart power relative to hard power; (3) analyzing smart power in the context of recent US foreign policy, and (4) proposing several prescriptions that will encourage decision-makers to value and effectively use smart power strategies in their foreign policies.

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