Smart power and conflict deterrence

In international relations, the term "power" is categorized in three forms: hard, soft and smart. Smart power refers mainly to the use of soft means of influence, such as diplomacy, combined with the exercise of hard, military power. Today, and while the conflicts within Ukraine continue, the strategic doctrine of smart power of former US assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs Joseph Nye is back in the spotlight.

Kathimerini spoke with the veteran politician and founder of the smart power concept. The distinguished Harvard professor, with a long tenure in the American political arena as assistant secretary of defense during the Clinton administration (1994-95) and as chief of the National Intelligence Council (1993-94), responds on the possible outcome of a war with a weakened Russia and the central role that Greece can play.

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