Top 16 Quotes & Sayings by Joseph Nye

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American educator Joseph Nye.

Last updated on April 21, 2025.

Joseph Samuel Nye Jr. is an American political scientist. He and Robert Keohane co-founded the international relations theory of neoliberalism, which they developed in their 1977 book Power and Interdependence. Together with Keohane, he developed the concepts of asymmetrical and complex interdependence. They also explored transnational relations and world politics in an edited volume in the 1970s. More recently, he pioneered the theory of soft power and explained the distinction between it and hard power. His notion of "smart power" became popular with the use of this phrase by members of the Clinton Administration and the Obama Administration.

American - Educator | Born: January 19, 1937

Source: Wikipedia

We live in a world of diverse cultures, and we know very little about social engineering and how to 'build nations.' And when we cannot be sure how to improve the world, hubristic visions pose a grave danger.

Joseph Nye

Leadership experts and the public alike extol the virtues of transformational leaders - those who set out bold objectives and take risks to change the world. We tend to downplay 'transactional' leaders, whose goals are more modest, as mere managers.

Joseph Nye

As we think of power in the 21st century, we want to get away from the idea that power's always zero sum - my gain is your loss and vice versa. Power can also be positive sum, where your gain can be my gain.

Joseph Nye

Transformational leaders are important because they make choices that most other leaders would not.

Joseph Nye

American power in the world relies on these ideals of openness and critical debate.

Joseph Nye

Terrorism is like jujitsu: The small players win if they make the large player use his strength against himself.

Joseph Nye

America rests on shared values rather than shared ethnicity.

Joseph Nye

Power is the ability to affect others to get the outcomes you want, and that can be done by coercion, payment or attraction.

Joseph Nye

In the information age, it's not just whose army wins, but whose story wins.

Joseph Nye

America should find its interests in ways which are more consistent with the interests of other countries, which are things that are good for us but also good for others. That will make Americans exporters of hope again, not exporters of fear.

Joseph Nye

His [Osama bin Laden]excessive use of terror, including numerous attacks that indiscriminately killed many women and children, and of course many Muslims, has hurt the attractiveness of his message.

Joseph Nye

Every politician just has to remember how he got his position in the first place. A young candidate running for Congress or any outsider interested in public office could only achieve his goals by relying on soft power. They could not force anyone to vote for them. They needed to convince their potential voters, they needed to do fundraising, they needed to be attractive candidates.

Joseph Nye

Money and donations are an important part of our political system. They are hard power.

Joseph Nye

Democracy is the best school to learn soft power.

Joseph Nye

As we think of power in the 21st century, we want to get away from the idea that power’s always zero sum — my gain is your loss and vice versa. Power can also be positive sum, where your gain can be my gain.

Joseph Nye

The national interest is predetermined by geopolitics or the history of a country. Important political leaders never just followed their interests - they were concerned about the interests of their people.

Joseph Nye

Top 16 Quotes & Sayings by Joseph Nye

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