What is soft power? Could soft power be considered the least costly type of power?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The ideal answer should include:

1. Soft power is an ideational type of power, which stems from a country's culture, history of behavior, etc. It can be thought of as attraction. This is a variation on the power/influence theme, positing that one state so admires another state's values, its policies, or even its culture, that the first state agrees to go along with the demands of the admired state. For example, it is argued that the soft power of the United States (e.g., its political institutions, music, values) has penetrated some other countries so deeply that it gives the United States leverage in interstate dealings with those countries.

2. One can argue that soft power is, indeed, the least costly type of power. This is because if one state can get another to want the outcomes that it wants, it will not have to use other types of power, such as military power or economic power (which can be quite costly), to achieve the desired outcome.