Joseph S Nye redefined the meaning of global influence with his concept of “soft power”. He is no more but the cause he championed — domination and leadership grounded in values — is what world needs more than ever

Joseph S Nye, the visionary political scientist who coined the transformative concept of “soft power”, passed away on May 6, 2025, at 88.

 With his passing, the world bids farewell not only to a scholar but to a statesman of ideas whose intellectual legacy remains vital in regions plagued by conflict — especially South Asia. Nye was not merely an academic theorist; he was a pacifist in the truest sense — one who believed that power could heal rather than harm, attract rather than coerce.

At Harvard University, where he taught for decades, Nye co-developed the theory of complex interdependence with Robert Keohane and challenged the traditional obsession with military might.

In Bound to Lead (1990) and later in Soft Power (2004), he provided a compelling alternative: the notion that a nation’s influence could stem from its culture, values, and policies rather than its missiles and markets.

Nowhere is this vision more relevant than in South Asia — a region Nye never studied in granular detail but whose condition so vividly affirms his theories. India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed neighbours locked in a perpetual dance of distrust, spend billions on defence even as millions within their borders lack basic needs.

It is, as Nye might have observed, one of the most militarised, terror-stricken, under-integrated, and socially fractured regions on Earth — a place crying out not for more hard power, but for the redemptive strength of soft power.

Nye served as Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Clinton administration, yet he was never intoxicated by the logic of force. Instead, he spoke of “smart power”— the synthesis of hard and soft tools wielded with strategic wisdom. But more than that, he believed in moral leadership: that democratic values, international cooperation, and cultural openness were themselves instruments of strength.

Nye’s influence on the policy makers especially in the US has been profound. he led the Belfer Center, then called the Center for Science and International Affairs, from 1989 to 1993. In those years. The center  was involved in research on the threat posed by lax controls over nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union as it came apart after the Cold War. That work directly shaped US policy in guarding against the dangers from “loose nukes.”

Nye went on to oversee nuclear weapons proliferation policy in the Clinton Administration as chairman of the National Intelligence Council and then assistant secretary of defence for international security affairs. It was his efforts that better rational decisions could be taken in the cold war era.

Graham Allison, the founding dean of HKS and Nye’s lifelong friend, said, “Joe was a pillar of Harvard, of HKS, and of the Belfer Center. His passion was advancing policy-relevant knowledge about the most critical questions of war and peace. He was proudest of having contributed both intellectually (as co-chair of the Avoiding Nuclear War project) and practically (in the Carter and Clinton administrations) to preventing nuclear war. And he was not just a friend, but a functional brother, whom I loved.”

At a time when global politics were defined by unilateral aggression, Nye offered a vision that was deeply ethical and radically humane.

In South Asia, this lesson remains unheeded. Both India and Pakistan have squandered their soft power potential in pursuit of hollow victories. India, despite its global diaspora, cultural richness, and democratic ethos, is increasingly seen through the lens of internal repression and regional rivalry.

Pakistan, endowed with a resilient civil society and rich cultural history, has been eclipsed by its over-militarised national identity. Nye’s work is a mirror — one that reflects not just what is, but what could be.

Consider Kashmir: long a symbol of unresolved history and human suffering, and yet, potentially, a site for reconciliation through the soft gestures of dialogue, shared culture, and people-to-people engagement. Nye would argue that sustainable peace cannot be engineered through dominance.

It must be built on legitimacy — the kind earned through consistent values and international credibility, not through ultimatums and armed standoffs. Joseph Nye was more than a scholar; he was a global moral compass. He reminded the world that power must not only be measured by its ability to compel, but by its capacity to inspire. He believed that even in a dangerous world, influence rooted in respect and attraction could achieve what centuries of warfare had failed to secure: peace through understanding.

As the Indo–Pakistani relationship teeters between fragile ceasefires and aggressive postures, Nye’s legacy offers a roadmap out of the darkness. His passing is not merely an academic loss.

It is a diplomatic moment — a pause to ask ourselves what kind of power we wish to pursue: the brittle kind that demands submission, or the enduring kind that earns admiration. To remember Joseph Nye is to remember that ideas are weapons too — but ones that disarm, liberate, and heal.

In South Asia and beyond, he leaves behind a challenge: not to dominate, but to lead wisely; not to conquer, but to connect. In a century already fraying at the edges, the apostle of soft power reminds us that the gentlest forces are often the most enduring.

“Hard power is the ability to use the carrots and sticks of economic and military might to make others follow your will. Soft power is about shaping the preferences of others.” — Joseph Nye Joseph Nye’s legacy resonates far beyond academic circles — it offers a timely and necessary lens through which South Asia can reimagine its fractured future. In a region dominated by militarism and mistrust, Nye’s vision of soft power — rooted in values, culture, and legitimacy — presents an alternative path to peace. His work challenges leaders to lead by example, not intimidation.

As India and Pakistan navigate an uncertain geopolitical landscape, remembering Nye is not just about honouring a scholar — it’s about heeding a call. His ideas remain a blueprint for a better world: one where power heals, connects, and inspires. That, perhaps, is his greatest gift.

(The writer is a Professor, Centre for South Asian Studies, Pondicherry Central University. The views are personal)