Document Type : Science - Research (Political Science)

Authors

• Mahmoud Ketabi ¹
• Enayatollah Yazdani ²
• Masoud Rezaei ³

¹ Faculty member of Islamic Azad University

² Faculty member of Isfahan University

³ Ph.D Student in International Relation -at Islamic Azad University

Abstract

Power is one of the basic and fundamental elements in international politics therefore, the area of analysing power is one of the most important compasses for research in international relations which on the basis of reliance to diverse methodology discusses towards explaining the foreign behaviour of the governments. Based on the transformation in the political structure and behavior patterns of countries show that any change and displacement, resulting from a change in the approach, based on the power. Transformation in the concept of power which is referred to as "soft power", as a method of International Policy discussion and a tool for improving the country’s foreign policy, is considered as a relatively young model that somehow founded on it’s equivalent implications such as influence, power and even legitimacy. This power is the power of guidance, attraction and being role model. For this reason, is also intimately associated with shapeless powers such as culture and knowledge. On this basis, a country like the United States which is known as a Hegemon (Hazmon) in the international arena, is attempting with expansion and promotion of it’s culture and knowledge as soft power components attain three goals, promote the level of legitimacy of political system at the international level, maintaining the international prestige and eventually manage and give direction to the public opinion in order to stabilize it’s Hegemonic structure. The present article in a logical path first attempts to redefine power in classic narrative and introduce new interpretations of power, history as well as it’s  characteristics and then with taking the role of the United States soft power under consideration and with focusing on two elements of soft power (information technology and media and culture), studies the effects of this form of power in sustaining the hegemonic system.

Keywords

• Soft power
• technology
• Culture
• Hegemony
• United States of America