Soft Power Beyond the West

This collective volume re-evaluates Joseph Nye's concept of soft power, arguing that its original Western, liberal framework no longer aligns with twenty-first-century multipolarity. While historically linked to post-Cold War American hegemony, soft power has shifted due to the rise of non-Western actors, including China, Turkey, Japan, Vietnam and Russia, which project influence through regional narratives rather than universal norms. These emerging powers often leverage culture, economic support, technological export, and anti-colonial memory to challenge Western influence. Consequently, the traditional distinction between soft and hard power is progressively blurred, as cultural influence is now deeply intertwined with strategic competition. The book concludes that modern global influence is increasingly derived from embodying distinct, non-Western alternatives, transforming soft power into a tool for geopolitical competition rather than universalistic persuasion.

Contributors
Garnik S. Asatrian, Georgi Asatryan, Maria Chizhevskaya, Mahesh Ranjan Debata, Nina Grigoreva, Alena Korobochkina, Svetlana Krivokhizh, Mher D. Sahakyan, Elena Soboleva, Maria Soloshcheva, and Evgeny Zelenev.