This book offers new and cutting-edge analyses of under-explored subjects and issues in the realm of soft power. It attempts to fill significant scholarly gaps in understanding the process by which soft power is created, as well as gaps in demonstrating its impact. Soft power is one of the most influential ideas in the study of international politics over the past thirty years. Can nations attain their most vital foreign policy objectives in agreeable ways? Advocates of the concept of soft power have vociferously answered in the affirmative. After many years of thinking in the field of international affairs that the only effective path to influence in international politics was military and economic power, the idea of soft power offers new and exciting possibilities of gaining such influence through a more benign path, one that elevates cooperation and esteem as preferred alternatives to violence, threat and military capacity. This book posits that the realization of the full potential of soft power as a foundation for international relations is a crucial goal for our present world, one beset by war and planetary crises. The book will be of special interest to researchers across political science, international relations, cultural studies and foreign policy. It was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Political Power.

This book is about how the rise of democracy has transformed economics over the past 150 years. As voting was expanded to the masses in the late 19th century, political leaders faced emergent pressures to deliver prosperity to their newly enfranchised populations. This led to the rise of the guardian state: a state whose prime directive was to protect economic growth and employment. Domestic economic goals now became sacrosanct, and if that meant a failure on the international stage to construct solutions to problems in monetary relations, so be it. The book traces the history of international monetary diplomacy during this long period to show how the guardian state has manifested itself, and how it has shaped the course of international monetary relations. Each of the most important international monetary conferences in history is scrutinized with respect to how nations sought to protect the prosperity within their national economies. The historical narratives give a bird's-eye view into how domestic political priorities have intruded on and shaped economic relations among nations. The book clearly demonstrates the advantages of an interdisciplinary understanding of how politics shapes economics. It will be invaluable reading for scholars and students of international economics, politics and economic history.

This book deals with the most important developments in the study of political power over the last four decades. From the writings of the great Greek philosophers of antiquity to the present, the idea of power has been the major subject in the study of politics. Indeed, some would say it defines the very field of politics itself as a social science. Penned by the leading scholars in the field, this collection gives a broad overview of the most important issues in the study of political power, tracing the evolution of scholarly thinking about them and in doing so revealing crucial innovations therein. This will be a major contribution in the understanding of the concepts and practices of how power manifests itself across social and political contexts. This book will be of great interest to scholars, students and individuals who wish to understand the very foundations of social and political life. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Political Power, volume 14, issue 1 (2021).

This book deals with the most important developments in the study of political power over the last four decades. From the writings of the great Greek philosophers of antiquity to the present, the idea of power has been the major subject in the study of politics. Indeed, some would say it defines the very field of politics itself as a social science. Penned by the leading scholars in the field, this collection gives a broad overview of the most important issues in the study of political power, tracing the evolution of scholarly thinking about them and in doing so revealing crucial innovations therein. This will be a major contribution in the understanding of the concepts and practices of how power manifests itself across social and political contexts. This book will be of great interest to scholars, students and individuals who wish to understand the very foundations of social and political life. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Political Power, volume 14, issue 1 (2021).

This book is about how the rise of democracy has transformed economics over the past 150 years. As voting was expanded to the masses in the late 19th century, political leaders faced emergent pressures to deliver prosperity to their newly enfranchised populations. This led to the rise of the guardian state: a state whose prime directive was to protect economic growth and employment. Domestic economic goals now became sacrosanct, and if that meant a failure on the international stage to construct solutions to problems in monetary relations, so be it. The book traces the history of international monetary diplomacy during this long period to show how the guardian state has manifested itself, and how it has shaped the course of international monetary relations. Each of the most important international monetary conferences in history is scrutinized with respect to how nations sought to protect the prosperity within their national economies. The historical narratives give a bird's-eye view into how domestic political priorities have intruded on and shaped economic relations among nations. The book clearly demonstrates the advantages of an interdisciplinary understanding of how politics shapes economics. It will be invaluable reading for scholars and students of international economics, politics and economic history.

How can nations optimize their power in the modern world system? Realist theory has underscored the importance of hard power as the ultimate path to national strength. In this vision, nations require the muscle and strategies to compel compliance and achieve their full power potential. But in fact, changes in world politics have increasingly encouraged national leaders to complement traditional power resources with more enlightened strategies oriented around the use of soft power resources. The resources to compel compliance have to be increasingly integrated with the resources to cultivate compliance. Only through this integration of hard and soft power can nations truly achieve their greatest strength in modern world politics, and this realization carries important implications for competing paradigms of international relations. The idea of power optimization can only be delivered through the integration of the three leading paradigms of international relations: Realism, Neoliberalism, and Constructivism.

How can nations optimize their power in the modern world system? Realist theory has underscored the importance of hard power as the ultimate path to national strength. In this vision, nations require the muscle and strategies to compel compliance and achieve their full power potential. But in fact, changes in world politics have increasingly encouraged national leaders to complement traditional power resources with more enlightened strategies oriented around the use of soft power resources. The resources to compel compliance have to be increasingly integrated with the resources to cultivate compliance. Only through this integration of hard and soft power can nations truly achieve their greatest strength in modern world politics, and this realization carries important implications for competing paradigms of international relations. The idea of power optimization can only be delivered through the integration of the three leading paradigms of international relations: Realism, Neoliberalism, and Constructivism.