In Search of Soft Power Does foreign Public opinion Matter for US foreign Policy? By BenjaMIn e. GolDSMIth and YUSakU horIUchI*

D “soft power” matter in international relations? Specifically, when the United States seeks cooperation from countries around the world, do the views of their publics about US foreign policy affect the actual foreign policy behavior of those countries? we examine this question using multinational surveys covering fifty-eight countries, combined with information about their foreign policy decisions in 2003, a critical year for the US during the post-9/11 period. we draw our basic conceptual framework from joseph nye, who coined the term “soft power.”1 according to nye, soft power is “the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments.”2 this is an especially appropriate framework for us because, as nye puts it, “soft power is about mobilizing cooperation from others.”3 as we do in this article, he frequently uses public opinion surveys regarding attitudes in foreign countries toward the US and its policies.4 It is also appropriate because the effectiveness of soft power hinges on the targeted country’s public attitudes (that is, favorability) toward the country wielding, or attempting to wield, international influence (in this study, the US).