FROM HARD POWER TO SMART POWER EVOLUTION OR CONCEPTUAL CONFUSION?

Abstract

This article examines the evolution of the concept of power in international relations, moving from traditional notions of hard power to more contemporary frameworks of soft power and smart power. Particular attention is given to the theoretical contributions of Joseph S. Nye Jr., who redefined power as not only the ability to coerce but also the capacity to attract and shape the preferences of other actors.

The article questions whether smart power constitutes a genuinely new theoretical framework or merely a strategic recombination of existing concepts. It argues that, despite its widespread use in academic and policy discourse, smart power suffers from conceptual ambiguity and analytical redundancy.

Through a critical analysis of existing literature and contemporary practices: such as educational exchange programs, cultural industries, and economic instruments. The study demonstrates that smart power is better understood as a strategic approach rather than a distinct category of power.Special emphasis is placed on the role of education (including programs such as the Fulbright Program, Erasmus Programme, and Chevening Scholarships), cultural industries (such as Netflix and HBO), and economic factors as key instruments of influence in the 21st century.

The article concludes that smart power should be viewed primarily as a practical foreign policy strategy rather than a theoretical innovation, reflecting the increasingly multidimensional, networked, and diffuse nature of power in the contemporary international system.