On The Soft Power Factor In International Politics

The theory of power is important in the research area of international relationships. It is also one of the crucial variables which impact act of state. All the mainstream of international relationships theory are investigating on power. But since the end of cold war, the power has made great changes in character. In the theory of international relations the researchers divide power into hard power and soft power. With the end of cold war and according to the change of international political situation, the nations relate to each other closer and closer. Interdependent international environment makes it expense to perform hard power. The military and economic strengths are not as effective as before. Not only does military force cost too much, but it also deviates from original aim sometimes. Economic sanction becomes valueless too. The appearance of nuclear weapon caused some changes in the war form. The nuclear war will lead unbearable consequences for any country and hence the eruption of war could be restricted. The price of normal war becomes higher nowadays. Conversely, It is more popular to achieve one's goal by convincing other countries to accept one's culture, values and so on. The importance of soft power emerges and that of hard power goes down comparatively. Soft power theory was introduced in such an international circumstance. Although this theory is important in international politics, it is impossible to use soft power without hard power. The theory of soft power has its own limitations too.