In the Trump era, everybody's talking about 'soft power.' But ... what is it exactly?

## Summary
Capitol to protest the dismantling of USAID, the international agency charged with dispensing humanitarian aid around the world on behalf of the United States. In the past year, American soft power has declined in a variety of measures, everything from perceived friendliness to working towards common goals, like climate action, according to David Haigh , CEO of Brandfinance, which produces an annual soft power index through surveys with 175,000 people across the globe. "It's not surprising, because the current administration is rebalancing its foreign policy much more toward hard power and economic power and away from soft power," Haigh says, referring to the aid cuts and the U.S. pulling away from major international organizations. "I think it's probably because there is an impatience to get results. And one of the things about soft power is you can't be impatient." NPR spoke to scholars of soft power around the world to understand how it can be defined and deployed through foreign aid. And so, the intensity of your desire to do that might be a good reflection of how much soft power that country is exercising. "MTV was seen as the best form of entertainment" Salvador Santino Regilme, studies American soft power at Leiden University in the Netherlands and is the author of Aid Imperium: United States Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Post-Cold War Southeast Asia What got you interested in studying soft power?

## Article Content
Global Health
In the Trump era, everybody's talking about 'soft power.' But ... what is it exactly?
April 9, 2026
11:21 AM ET
Fatma Tanis
A protester carries a sign that equates foreign aid with soft power during a rally near the U.S. Capitol to protest the dismantling of USAID, the international agency charged with dispensing humanitarian aid around the world on behalf of the United States.
Ben de la Cruz/NPR
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Ben de la Cruz/NPR
"Soft power" is a hot topic in Washington, D.C. these days.
The question: Has Donald Trump 's gutting of foreign aid meant a diminishment of soft power.
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) accused the administration of "recklessly gutting American soft power and providing a huge strategic opening to China" in a February 2025
speech
on the Senate floor.
That same month, Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a supporter of President Trump's policies,
said
he was a "big advocate for soft power."
That raises another question for those who aren't up on foreign aid terminology: What exactly is soft power?
American political scientist
Joseph Nye
is credited with popularizing the term, which he
defined
as "the ability to obtain preferred outcomes by attraction rather than coercion or payment." But that can mean different things depending on whether you wield soft power or are influenced by it.
He brought it to the public eye in his 1990 book
Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power
.
Since then, the term has become so much a part of the lexicon that there are folks who try to quantify it. In the past year, American soft power has declined in a variety of measures, everything from perceived friendliness to working towards common goals, like climate action, according to
David Haigh
, CEO of Brandfinance, which produces an annual
soft power index
through surveys with 175,000 people across the globe.
"It's not surprising, because the current administration is rebalancing its foreign policy much more toward hard power and economic power and away from soft power," Haigh says, referring to the aid cuts and the U.S. pulling away from major international organizations. "I think it's probably because there is an impatience to get results. And one of the things about soft power is you can't be impatient."
NPR spoke to scholars of soft power around the world to understand how it can be defined and deployed through foreign aid.
These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
"Making people like you"
Samuel Brazys studies soft power and international development at
University College Dublin
How do you define soft power?
Soft power is about getting other people to adopt what you want, to adopt your ideas, to adopt your worldview without force. Basically making people like you because they like you.
What got you interested in studying soft power?
My interest in this goes back 10 or 15 years to when China was really starting to rise on the international stage and starting to contest global norms, global ideas, and going after the hearts and minds in places around the world.
Can you give an example of a time you saw it playing out in real life?
When I was living in Micronesia, the Chinese embassy there brought through an acrobat troupe that performed at the local college. It was this fantastic show. It was the biggest piece of entertainment that anyone had seen there in years. It was 100% soft power at work, and certainly won the hearts and minds of the audience in the moment. Much of soft power rests on moments that create cultural influence.
Where do you think U.S. soft power stands today?
My impression is that soft power was people from all over the world wanting to move to the United States. I think a good gauge that we've seen is that people are
starting to have more reservations
about moving to the United States. That used to be everybody's dream. And some people are having fewer reservations about
moving to China
, especially from places in the Global South. And I think that's a really good indicator, because if I'm willing to do everything it takes to leave my home and leave my family to start a new life, I must really like something about what's happening in that system, right? And so, the intensity of your desire to do that might be a good reflection of how much soft power that country is exercising.
"MTV was seen as the best form of entertainment"
Salvador Santino Regilme, studies American soft power at
Leiden University
in the Netherlands and is the author of
Aid Imperium: United States Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Post-Cold War Southeast Asia
What got you interested in studying soft power?
I originally come from the Philippines. Despite all the kinds of abuses that the
U.S. government
did before the Second World War during the American occupation, the
Philippines has one of the highest
positive public perceptions of U.S. power in world politics. I think that is fascinating.
How do you define soft power?
For me, the soft power of a particular country refers to the

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- But also, amongst the major players in Africa, American soft power seems to be the most sophisticated and robust.
- What do you think has been the most effective soft power tool of the United States?

### Areas for Consideration
N/A

### Implications
- He brought it to the public eye in his 1990 book Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power .
- In the past year, American soft power has declined in a variety of measures, everything from perceived friendliness to working towards common goals, like climate action, according to David Haigh , CEO of Brandfinance, which produces an annual soft power index through surveys with 175,000 people across the globe. "It's not surprising, because the current administration is rebalancing its foreign policy much more toward hard power and economic power and away from soft power," Haigh says, referring to the aid cuts and the U.S. pulling away from major international organizations. "I think it's probably because there is an impatience to get results.
- Much of soft power rests on moments that create cultural influence.
- And so, the intensity of your desire to do that might be a good reflection of how much soft power that country is exercising. "MTV was seen as the best form of entertainment" Salvador Santino Regilme, studies American soft power at Leiden University in the Netherlands and is the author of Aid Imperium: United States Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Post-Cold War Southeast Asia What got you interested in studying soft power?

### Expert Commentary
This article covers power, soft, american topics. Notable strengths include discussion of power. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1839.