Historical Experience of Using “Soft Power” by States: Results of Discussions

Abstract

The article analyzes the results of the discussions about “soft power” held at the conferences of the Altai School of Political Studies in 2017-2018. The author characterizes the study of the historical experience of using the policy of "soft power". Special attention is paid to the question of how justified are attempts to apply the theory formulated by Joseph Nay at the end of the 20^th century to remote historical epochs. The author comes to the conclusion that this concept did not initially differ in clarity, and subsequent interpretations blurred its meaning even more. This was manifested, in particular, in attempts to find examples in the distant historical epochs of the use and theoretical substantiation of "soft power". At the same time, “soft power” is often reduced to such well-known phenomena as “flexible policy”, “cultural influence” and “propaganda”. But “soft power” is far from identical to them. If we talk about the "narrow" understanding of "soft power", then it is a phenomenon, conceptually formed only by the end of the 20^th century. This phenomenon reflects the specificity of this particular stage of human civilization development: the accumulation of enormous stocks of weapons of mass destruction on the planet, globalization and new information technologies, the increased role of non-state actors in international relations, etc. Considering this, it should be said that it is possible to talk about individual manifestations of the policy of “soft power” in the distant historical epochs; however, in the “narrow” sense, the concept of “soft power” can be more appropriately applied to the realities of modern history.