Articles by: "Joseph S. Nye"
Deterrence in cyberspace

Earlier this year, American officials acknowledged that US offensive cyber operations had stopped Russian disruption of the 2018 congressional election. Such operations are rarely discussed, but this time there was commentary about a new offensive …

American soft power in the age of Trump

US President Donald Trump’s administration has shown little interest in public diplomacy. And yet this form of diplomacy—a government’s efforts to communicate directly with other countries’ publics—is one of the key instruments policymakers use to …

Does China have feet of clay?

Chinese President Xi Jinping seems to be on a roll. He has sent a rocket to the dark side of the moon, built artificial islands on contested reefs in the South China Sea and enticed …

Rules of the cyber road for America and Russia

The United States responded weakly after Russian cyber operations disrupted the 2016 presidential election. US President Barack Obama had warned his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, of repercussions, but an effective reply became entangled in the …

Is the ‘populist’ tide retreating?

The dysfunctional politics of Brexit in the United Kingdom, and the midterm election reaction against President Donald Trump in the United States, are generating second thoughts about the populist tide that has been sweeping the …

Is fake news here to stay?

The term ‘fake news’ has become an epithet that US President Donald Trump attaches to any unfavourable story. But it is also an analytical term that describes deliberate disinformation presented in the form of a …

China, Japan and Trump’s America

The key strategic issue in East Asia is the rise of Chinese power. Some analysts believe that China will seek a form of hegemony in East Asia that will lead to conflict. Unlike Europe, East …

The two sides of American exceptionalism

In July, I joined 43 other scholars of international relations in paying for a newspaper advertisement arguing that the US should preserve the current international order. The institutions that make up this order have contributed …

White House of lies

By 1 June of this year, US President Donald Trump had made 3,259 false or misleading claims, according to the Washington Post Fact Checker’s database, which tracks and categorises every suspect statement uttered by the …

Is cyber the perfect weapon?

For years, political leaders such as former US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta have warned of the danger of a ‘cyber Pearl Harbor’. We have known for some time that potential adversaries have installed malicious …