Not since Roman Empire has any nation had so much economic, cultural and military power, yet that power alone will not be sufficient to solve the world's problems.

Joseph Nye, Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, presents a three-pronged strategy for maintaining the United States' standing in the world while reducing its vulnerability in the years to come.

He argues this power will last far into the 21st Century, but only if we learn to exercise it wisely. Power in this new century will rest on a mix of what he defines as "hard" and "soft" resources. The greatest mistake we can make as a world power is to allow ourselves to become the victim of one-dimensional analysis, believing that investment in military power alone with ensure our strength.

Paying attention to "soft" power, the former Chairman of the National Intelligence Council and Assistant Defense Secretary in the Clinton Administration argues, will co-opt people rather than coerce them. Military and economic power can be used to influence or threaten other people and country's positions once they are taken. Soft power however, rests on the ability to set the political agenda in a way that shapes preferences.

It is the ability to entice and attract. It stems, in large part, from our values -- the policies we follow inside our country and the way we handle ourselves abroad. It recognizes that power in the information age is less tangible and coercive.

There is also a benefit to not going it alone. While an inequality of power, he says, has often led to peace, because there is no point in declaring war on a more powerful state, it causes some countries to chafe.

Effective global governance requires a powerful state to take the lead. By encouraging or nourishing regional pockets of strength and acting with restraint or in combination with others, the impact of American power is softened. Whether other countries unite to balance American power depends as much on how the United States behaves as the power resources of the potential challengers.

The key to maintaining American supremacy in the years ahead, Nye argues, will rest in our ability to share power as well as to lead.

The Paradox of American Power is about a crucial question, why the world's only superpower can't go it alone? In his work, Joseph S. Nye makes a well-done analysis of the U.S foreign policy in the age of information revolution and globalization. He has several crucial insights in regard to American foreign policy centering on diverging perspectives of unilateralism and multilateralism. As Nye frequently points out in his study, the uni-multi debate is one of the most crucial issues for the U.S foreign policy now and years to come. Nye basically suggests that the United States should not act unilaterally in world affairs even if it is the world's only superpower. He makes the point that a multilateral pattern of foreign policy will be the best option not only for stability of international system but also for American national interests. The author argues that unilateralism is a danger for the U.S foreign policy since it has a considerable tendency to harm U.S relations with the rest of the world. In this respect, Nye recommends, the United States should follow a multilateral foreign policy, in which it takes place in international institutions and participates in multilateral treaties. Otherwise, Nye says, the United States will face a serious resentment and balancing behavior by the others. In this respect, he draws attention towards the recent U.S unilateralist acts such as dispension with the UN and rejection of several multilateral treaties including the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and treaty on establishing International Court of Justice.

Joseph S. Nye extensively talks about the reasons why the US can't go it alone. The changing global landscape in the age of information revolution and globalization, Nye says, is the primary reason for why it can't go it alone. A unilateral drive will lead to significant opposition by the rest of the world and it will considerably undermine its "soft power'. Nye gives significant attention towards "soft power" while he also holds military and economic power important. For this reason, he criticizes sovereignists who only consider "hard power" and champion unilateralism as the number one foreign policy pattern for the US.

The Paradox of American Power seems to be remaining in the center of many foreign policy debates since it well touches upon a significant issue of U.S foreign policy now and years and even decades to come. The uni-multi debate, which constitutes the core of this book, makes it quite relevant for both students of American foreign policy and scholars of global politics. This elegant book is recommended for the informed public alike.

Nye makes very compelling arguments about the erosion of traditional power contained in the American economy and military, and that in the years to come, a third type of power (soft power: the ability to make others want to do what you want them to do) will become extremely important if America is to hold its current place of power and prestige. And in order to do this, it is necessary to stop acting unilaterally and show the world that we are willing to work cooperatively to address those problems that are occurring on a global scale.

I won't go into all of his arguments, but they are all airtight and well documented. The one complaint I have with the book is some of the economic analysis (regression to pre-industrial PCI as an indicator of economic power is flawed and I personally don't agree with the idea that industrializing states are benefitted by open markets) is wrong. Regardless, this is an excellent book that succeeds very well in explaining the situation the United States currently occupies, and what pitfalls to avoid and which policies to adapt in order for America to continue to weild influence on a global scale.