The Power of Balance: Cosmopolitik and Security through Soft Power.

This paper proposes a partial reconciliation of realism, neoliberalism and constructivism by exploring the possibility of power optimization through combining hard power and soft power. The idea of soft power factors as phenomena which empower nations represents a significant break from a constructivist tradition that has tended to conceptualize such phenomena as being disempowering (i.e., serve to constrain the autonomy and actions of nations). Neoliberals too embrace soft power in a ways that emphasize restraint: i.e., an emphasis on cooperation for mutual gains and against concerns for relative power. It is argued that only through including such soft factors in a national power nexus can nations truly optimize their power. Indeed, strategies that do not embrace soft power elements, but rely exclusively on hard power, may very well have the counterproductive effect of weakening a nation. This "weakening effect" or "power curse" builds on the idea of "power illusion" (Gallarotti 2004). Hence, realism needs constructivism and neoliberalism for the realization of one of the fundamental goals it ascribes to nations: the optimization of national power. This paper proposes an intergrated paradigm which synthesizes these three paradigms with respect to power: Cosmopolitik. The logic herein is consistent with both relative and absolute power optimization. This reconciliation is carried out systematically and formally by developing the idea of soft power (Nye 2004) in a relational power context. Soft power is systematically analyzed as a manifestation of metapower. Developing the idea of soft power in this context leads to a conceptualization of the process of power illusion. Formally, both soft power and power illusion are modeled using portfolio diversification theory and a theory of optimal factor allocation in the production of influence. Moreover, the idea of empowerment through emulation is explored in the historical context of modern dollarization and late 19th century trade and monetary policy. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]