Nye has produced a brilliant and concise plea for American humility in The Paradox of American Power. The central thesis of the book is that the ideas and concepts of power are changing and that ultimately, the U.S. is going to have to adjust to these changes if it wishes to remain "the" country in the world.
The first chapter covers familiar territory for Nye witha a discussion of power, particularly what Nye calls soft power or the power of ideas and culture. In this chapter, Nye convincingly states that there is more to power than just a strong military and that the U.S. has to cultivate its soft power as well. Nye also discusses potential competitors here, such as China and Europe and how these countries could challenge the U.S.
Chapters two and three discuss the emergence of an information revolution and globalization, respectively, and how both of these phenomena can and will change the global environment. Nye is making the case for how the U.S. can stay on top, and while some might fault him for that, this book is not a call for U.S. dominance to the detriment of others; it is a call for a more responsible and responsive U.S. that will benefit the vast majority of other countries.
Chapter four deals with domestic issues such as the economy and education and how these issues could potentially undermine American power. Chapter five concludes the book with the theme of redefining the national interest. This final chapter is particularly helpful because it provides real ideas for what the U.S. should be doing in the world and how doing it will benefit us in the long run. That is perhaps the most impressive idea he articulates in this book...that we should do all we can now to create a world that will be more congenial to our basic values in preparation for a time when we might not have the level of power and influence we have now.
Even though Nye barely mentions it, the ultimate validation of this book is to look at what's happening in Iraq. It is clearly a problem the U.S. can't handle on its own and one that has been made worse because the types of recommendations that Nye makes have been ignored. The book is eerily prophetic when viewed through this particular lens. You could easily think that Nye was writing this book in 2005 or 2006 as a response to Iraq, rather than 2001-02. Nye's basic premise holds true here and that is that the U.S. will be better off if we can get other countries to want to help us.
What stands out about this book the most to me is that it can be largely interpreted as a response to the Bush administration, but Nye hardly mentions Bush or specific Bush policies at all. Rather than producing just another boring and predictable polemic against Bush (who certainly deserves strong criticism), Nye has produced a wonderfully precise critique of post 9/11 American policy that blends pragmatism and realism in a way that reminds me of Noah Feldman (another great author I would highly recommend).
The Paradox of American Power, while not necessarily an easy read, should still be read by anyone that cares about the direction American foreign policy is going. I feel better about our government knowing that someone like Nye was on the inside. Hopefully he'll find his way into an influential position in the McCain administration in 2009.
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