Articles by: "Joseph S. Nye"
Whatever happened to soft power?

As 2021 drew to a close, Russia had massed troops near its border with Ukraine, China had flown military jets near Taiwan, North Korea was still pursuing its nuclear-weapons program, and Taliban fighters were patrolling …

Is the US sleepwalking towards war with China?

As US President Joe Biden’s administration implements its strategy of great-power competition with China, analysts seek historical metaphors to explain the deepening rivalry. But while many invoke the onset of the Cold War, a more …

What difference did 9/11 make?

The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 on the United States were a horrific shock. Images of trapped victims leaping from the Twin Towers are indelible, and the intrusive security measures introduced in the wake …

America needs a new great-power strategy

During the four decades of the Cold War, the United States had a grand strategy focused on containing the power of the Soviet Union. Yet by the 1990s, following the Soviet Union’s collapse, America had …

The logic of US–China competition

In his recent address to the US Congress, President Joe Biden warned that China is deadly serious about trying to become the world’s most significant power. But Biden also declared that autocrats will not win …

Biden faces test on human rights

During Joe Biden’s long career in the US Senate, he established a record of supporting human rights as a goal of American foreign policy. Now, as president, Biden’s commitment in this area is being put …