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

"Soft power" is a widely discussed topic in Washington, D.C., especially concerning its potential diminishment due to foreign aid cuts during the Trump administration. American political scientist Joseph Nye, who popularized the term in his 1990 book *Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power*, defined it as "the ability to obtain preferred outcomes by attraction rather than coercion or payment." Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) accused the administration of "recklessly gutting American soft power," while Lindsey Graham (R-SC) stated he was a "big advocate for soft power." David Haigh, CEO of Brandfinance, noted a decline in American soft power over the past year, attributing it to the current administration rebalancing foreign policy towards hard power and economic power. Samuel Brazys of University College Dublin defines soft power as getting others to adopt your ideas and worldview without force, essentially "making people like you."