Journal of Political Power Vol. 4, No. 1, April 2011, 49–64 ISSN 2158-379X print/ISSN 2158-3803 online © 2011 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/2158379X.2011.556346 http://www.informaworld.com Revising the soft power concept: what are the means and mechanisms of soft power? Steven B. Rothman* College of Asia Pacific Studies, International Relations and Peace Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Beppu-city, Oita, Japan Taylor and Francis RPOW_A_556346.sgm 10.1080/2158379X.2011.556346 The Journal of Political Power 1754-0291 (print)/1754-0305 (online) Article 2011 Taylor & Francis 4 10000002011 Dr StevenRothman srothman@apu.ac.jp The power of attraction (soft power), as developed by Joseph Nye, has been increasingly discussed in international relations literature and policy, yet soft power has not been fully utilized because of under-specified tools and mechanisms by which soft power influences international actors. This article revises the concept of soft power by generating a continuum of power based on the tools useful for implementing different degrees of soft or hard power. In addition, the article describes two mechanisms through which soft power influences international actors, beginning the call for exploration of other such mechanisms. Reconceptualizing soft power in terms of objects that are controlled and utilized by policy-makers, such as agenda-setting and framing, provides us with more useful analytical variables to understand international relations and to provide policy recommendations. Keywords: soft power; concept validity; agenda-setting; framing; foreign policy Introduction Power has been part of international relations studies since the earliest political writ- ings of Thucydides (1954) and Machiavelli (1935), and it remains perhaps among the most important and least understood concepts in international relations (Baldwin 2002, p. 177). At a basic level, power is the ability for one actor to influence the actions of another actor that would not have occurred otherwise (Dahl 1957). Types of power have appeared in various writings throughout international relations, including in the earliest realist writings, where attempts were made to discount the importance of norms, morality, and world opinion as forms of power (Morgenthau 1948, pp. 235–280, Carr 1956). Soft power has been added to the list of forms of power for international actors more recently (Nye 1990), but the concept’s validity has not yet been fully explored in scholarly literature. This article seeks to revise Nye’s concept of soft power to identify the practical means and mechanisms by which soft power works to influence international rela- tions. The article proceeds to first summarize and describe the primary defining aspects of soft power and its current operationalization. Second, the article argues for a revised conceptualization of soft power based on resources used and a continuum of power types rather than a dichotomy. Third, the article identifies two possible mech- anisms through which the softest powers (rhetoric and attraction) influence other actors via the creation of a dominant discourse or international norms. The article *Email: srothman@apu.ac.jp