Soft and Hard Power Essays

Soft and Hard Power Essays Soft and Hard Power Essay Soft and Hard Power Essay Essay Topic: Hard Times Soft Power and American Foreign Policy There is a growing anti-American sentiment across the globe. The Eurobarometer showed that Europeans think Americans tend to play a negative role in fighting poverty, protecting environment and maintaining peace. There is growing unpopularity amongst the youth of the world against the US. The US policy makers are not really concerned about this growing unpopularity because there is this notion that America is very strong. Because of this attitude American foreign policy also pays very little attention to soft power. * However, the US needs soft power for three reasons: It cannot tackle the new security threats with old security strategy. Example, while US was able to successfully topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan after 9/11 it was not able to successfully over throw Al-Qeada which has presence in over 60 countries. * Unpopularity and disregard for softpower can have a negative effect on US image, which in turn can reduce its hard power. * In a growing global information age it is very important to have alliance across the globe. If the US keeps emphasizing on hard power it will become difficult for US to find alliances. For example if a Swede hacks into the Pentagon the US needs the help of Sweden to extradite their citizens. However, if relationship with Sweden is not good then it becomes difficult for the US to tackle cyber warfare. In recent times neo-conservatives have taken over foreign policy where they have a desire to spread democracy. However, unlike their predecessors who emphasized on the building international institutions along with democracy promotion, neo-cons want to spread democracy with the use of hard power. According to Joseph Nye this is a wrong strategy. However Nye states that all is not lost for the US and it can still overhaul its foreign policy. He suggests: a) Promote more economic development policy focused on the world’s poor. He credits George Bush for emphasizing long term assistance to African poor. b) To build alliance through international institutions. For example, the war in Kosovo had broad legitimacy and actually improved the image of US because US went through the security council where it got an overwhelming majority to go ahead with its plans. In the end Nye states that what the US needs is a Jeffersonian ideology towards foreign policy rather than a Jacksonian one.

Patricia Vickers-Rich - A Profile of the Famous Paleontologist

Patricia Vickers-Rich - A Profile of the Famous Paleontologist Name: Patricia Vickers-Rich Born: 1944 Nationality: Australian; born in the United States Dinosaurs Named: Leaellynasaura, Qantassaurus, Timimus About Patricia Vickers-Rich Sometimes, even globe-trotting paleontologists become associated with the specific geographical areas in which they made their most famous fossil discoveries. Such is the case with Patricia Vickers-Rich, who along with her husband, fellow paleontologist Tom Rich, has become virtually synonymous with Dinosaur Cove. In 1980, the couple explored the remains of  this ancient river channel, studded with bones, on the southern coast of Australiaand soon they began a careful series of excavations, which involved the strategic use of dynamite and sledgehammers. (Vickers-Rich is not a native-born Australian; she was actually born in the United States, and emigrated Down Under in 1976.) Over the next 20 years, Vickers-Rich and her husband made a series of important discoveries, including the small, big-eyed theropod Leaellynasaura (which they named after their daughter) and the mysterious ornithomimid, or bird-mimic dinosaur, Timimus (which they named after their son). When they ran out of children after which to name their fossils, they turned to the corporate institutions of Australia: Qantassaurus was named after Qantas, the Australian national airline, and Atlascopcosaurus after a prominent manufacturer of mining equipment. What makes these finds especially important is that, during the later Mesozoic Era, Australia was located much farther south than it is today and it was therefore much colderso Vickers-Richs dinosaurs are among the few known to have lived in near-Antarctic conditions.