Portrait of Mr. Joseph Nye - father of the term "soft power" - Photo: Financial Times
Great loss for academia
According to Le Monde (France), political scientist Joseph Nye - one of the most influential scholars in the field of international relations, who laid the foundation for the concept of "soft power", passed away at the age of 88 on May 6.
His passing marks the end of a scholarly and public service journey spanning more than six decades.
Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid tribute to the loss: "Few people have contributed as much to the intellectual capital and understanding of the world and America's place in it as Joseph Nye."
The Financial Times said that Mr. Joseph Nye's departure comes as the US faces increasing challenges on the international stage.
"We are experiencing a shortage of people who understand Asian culture, and this will have long-term consequences," said Dennis Wilder, a former senior adviser on Asia at the White House.
Huge heritage
Mr. Joseph Nye is an outstanding scholar, graduated with a doctorate from Harvard University in 1964 and was one of the first lecturers at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS).
He later served as dean of the Harvard Kennedy School (1995-2004) and transformed it into a center for training the world's top leaders and policy makers.
Joseph Nye is also widely known for his concept of "soft power" - the way a country achieves its goals through cultural, political and diplomatic attraction, rather than coercion or bribery. This is a fundamental contribution to modern strategic thinking and diplomacy.
In addition, together with Robert Keohane, Mr. Joseph Nye proposed the theory of "complex dependence" - arguing that in an increasingly connected world, economics plays a more important role than military power in international relations.
In addition to his academic career, Joseph Nye has had an impressive public service career, serving as chairman of the National Intelligence Council and assistant secretary of defense under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
He contributed to building the US security strategy with the world, especially in Asia. President of the Indo-Pacific Security Institute Randall Schriver praised Mr. Joseph Nye as a person who "has made countless contributions to US national security".
Criticizing President Trump
In recent years, Mr. Joseph Nye has not hesitated to criticize President Donald Trump for failing to understand the nature and value of soft power.
“True realism does not rule out soft power. But extreme narcissists like Mr. Trump are not realists,” Joseph Nye wrote in an article in the Financial Times .
Mr. Joseph Nye warned that the country's "soft power is being weakened and squandered": "Fundamentally, what Mr. Trump has done shows that he does not think of America first, he thinks of America only."
But ultimately he remains confident in America's staying power: "I tend to be optimistic about America's soft power because I think we have a lot of resilience. This is a bad period, but I think we'll get through it."
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/joseph-nye-cha-de-thuat-ngu-quyen-luc-mem-qua-doi-o-tuoi-88-20250508114021055.htm
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