Joseph Nye: An Extraordinary Life in the American Century

Tuesday 13 May, 2025

“It is hard to think of anyone who has done more than Joe Nye to help us think about the nature of leadership and the nature of power, hard or soft, smart or otherwise, in the world as it has become and is becoming.”

This introduction, given by Don Markwell (Queensland & Trinity 1981), Warden of Rhodes House 2009-12, to a lecture delivered by Joseph Nye (New Jersey & Exeter 1958) in 2010, remains as true now as it was 15 years ago. Stop anyone on the streets of Oxford, and it’s possible they may not know his name, but it’s highly unlikely they have never heard of “soft power”. To condense his extraordinary and distinguished career, so eloquently described in the Harvard Kennedy School’s obituary, into two words would be a grave disservice, but it is a testament to the ongoing relevance of Joe’s work that even in the last days of his life, aged 88, he was being asked about the changing nature of the United States’ soft power.

Interviewed in October 2024 as part of the Rhodes Trust’s forthcoming Oral Histories project, Joe explained the background to the concept he is most renowned that, he notes with characteristic modesty “took legs beyond what I expected.”

“I worked in the Dukakis campaign in 1988… There was a lot of writing at the time about the decline of the United States. Paul Kennedy, the great British historian and a friend, had written a New York Times bestseller called The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, which said the United States was going the way of Philip II of Spain or Edwardian England. I thought this was wrong, and so, I decided to write a book, which was published with the title Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power. And as I was trying to calculate how much power the Americans had, I did the usual balance of military power and economic power, and I said, ‘There’s still something missing, which is the ability to get you what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payment.’ And in trying to explain that, I developed this concept of soft power.”

(Listen to extracts of the interview below)

Yet to focus purely on the achievements of his distinguished career would overlook his warmth as person that was so evident to everyone who met him, and his commitment to both Oxford and the Rhodes Scholarship. Sir Rick Trainor (Rhode Island & Merton 1970), Interim Warden of Rhodes House notes:

“Joe was a wonderfully rounded person as well as a truly outstanding scholar, academic leader, and statesman. His annual trips to Oxford - each accompanied by at least one superbly lucid presentation on world affairs - will long linger in the memory. He was a model Rhodes Scholar, dedicated to the public good and arranging, even in the last days of his life, to meet current Scholars in Residence. Joe will be hugely missed."

Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall (California & Balliol 1981) first met Joe when she was an undergraduate at Harvard. As part of a longer tribute she writes:
“Joe was a trailblazer in opening doors for young women and giving us opportunities to earn our places in worlds that had previously been nearly exclusively male. He mentored me as an undergraduate and first advised me to apply for a Rhodes Scholarship. Along with many of my female colleagues and friends across multiple generations, we are forever in his debt.”

Ngaire Woods (New Zealand & Balliol 1987), Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government adds:

“From the time I first met Joe Nye he has been a constant source of wise advice, of ideas, and of knowledge about the world and about what people across the world are thinking. He visited the Blavatnik School of Government every year from its first year of existence, lecturing, mentoring, and always finding out how students and faculty were experiencing the School, and feeding it back to me as Dean.”

Joseph Nye with Brian Wong (left) and Ngaire Woods (right)

Even in his late eighties, these annual visits still continued – he was due to visit us next week and offer his insights to younger Rhodes Scholars. Brian Wong (Hong Kong & Balliol 2020), writing on LinkedIn about his series of meetings with Joe remarked:

“Even in his final years, he was relentlessly keen on advising practitioners working on US-Asia Track-II and youth diplomacy: Think about the substance! Focus on a particular niche! Don't over-exert or under-strive! For his advice, time, and incredible magnanimity, many of us remain indubitably grateful.”

In 2024, Joe published his autobiography, A Life In The American Century, and Ziyi Wang (China & Queen's 2021) interviewed him for the Rhodes Trust’s Scholars’ Library series in May 2024.

“He was a towering figure with the rarest talent of bridging the chasm between intellectual vitality and policy making, epitomising what a public intellectual could only aspire to accomplish with unmatched decency, humility, and sagacity. In a sobering moment for the world now browbeaten by what he labelled ‘myopic transactionalism’, we are inspired by Professor Joseph Nye’s cautious yet relentless optimism, as we are indebted to his enduring wisdom.”

We will leave the final word to Elizabeth Kiss (Virginia & Balliol 1983), Warden of Rhodes House from 2018-2025:

"Joe Nye was one of the truest exemplars of fighting the world’s fight, seeking, throughout his distinguished career as a scholar, teacher, public servant, academic leader, and public intellectual, to make the world better, safer, and fairer for all. He was also a lovely human being, unfailingly warm, generous and kind. I am grateful to have benefited from his excellent and stimulating company, and for all the many ways he gave back to the Rhodes community. May he rest in peace – and may his ideas continue to influence and inspire future generations."

With thanks to the Harvard Kennedy School. Main image credit: Martha Stewart

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