Exploring Perspectives of U.S.Soft Power ''The marchall Plan and the war on terror " as cases Studies

Abstract

The present thesis intends to explore some of the perspectives of U.S. soft power. This power is based on the attractiveness of the American culture, political values, and foreign policies. The present study focuses on two policies when the United States tried to deploy its soft power. It probes the question about the circumstances that led the United States to rely on the strategy of soft power in the following two cases. The first case is the American reconstruction of Western Europe after the World War II 1948-1952 under a program called the Marshall Plan. During that period American policy makers made attempts to use soft power tools, for instance, public diplomacy, and foreign aid. The United States was able to manage a successful soft power campaign because it was able to understand the concerns of its target people. It succeeded also because American policy makers recognized how to achieve their national interest without offending any of the concerns of Western Europeans. The second case is the American policy of countering terrorism in the twenty first century. By contrast to the first case, the United States was not able to achieve any success for various reasons. The major reason beyond that failure was due to the absence of the American credibility. The United States tried to build national security without paying attention to the interests of its target people like those of the Middle East. As a result, instead of getting favorable opinions due to legitimate policies, the United States got opposition because it has put little consideration to human rights.