“All Roads of Foreign Policy Inquiry Go Through Joseph Nye”

The field of international relations scholarship lost a giant when Joseph Nye passed on May 6, 2025. Nye was a theorist, public servant and longtime professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He was also an inspiration, mentor and friend to many in The Fletcher School community.

Shaping the World Through Ideas

Joseph Nye helped define modern international relations, changing the way scholars and policymakers understood power and influence. Best known for coining the term “soft power,” Nye captured a critical insight: the ability of nations to attract and persuade, rather than coerce, can shape global affairs just as profoundly as military or economic might.

The concept of soft power entered the lexicon through Nye’s 1990 book Bound to Lead and only grew in influence. It became the rare academic theory to make its way into the daily vernacular of public discussion. Only a day before Harvard announced Nye’s passing, Fletcher Academic Dean Daniel Drezner published a newsletter on the state of American soft power.

Fletcher alumna Meg K. Guliford FG21 spent ten months as a civilian deployed in support of United States Forces-Iraq. In the field, she found Nye’s idea inescapable. “I heard every general officer and flag officer with whom I worked use the term ‘soft power’ at least once,” she said.

Nye’s intellectual reach extended beyond his most famous concept. “His earlier theory developed with Robert Keohane of liberal institutionalism is still considered foundational in international relations,” said Kelly Sims Gallagher, Dean of The Fletcher School. “Professor Nye’s articles and books on many subjects are now staples in the Fletcher curriculum.”

During his career, Nye took his ideas into practice, serving the U.S. government as deputy secretary of state, chairman of the National Intelligence Council, and assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. Gallagher cited his role as a key architect of the U.S.-Japan alliance, while Drezner called him “the Platonic ideal of a scholar,” someone who bridged theory and policy with rare ability.

After each stint in the Carter and Clinton administrations, Nye returned to his beloved Harvard University. He was an engaged neighbor to Fletcher, giving interviews to The Fletcher Forum and participating in Fletcher campus events, such as the 2024 Soft Power Summit organized by the Murrow Center.

A Friend and Mentor to Fletcher Scholars

Beyond his towering academic and policy achievements, Nye leaves behind a personal legacy of mentorship to generations of young scholars.

“One of Joe’s best characteristics was his keen interest and curiosity in the intellectual pursuits of his colleagues,” said Dean Gallagher, who first met Nye as a young doctoral student at Harvard. “I learned so much from him both substantively and because he was a wonderful role model. He unfailingly treated others respectfully, with kindness, and intention.”

Guliford got to know Nye when studying for her Master’s of Public Policy at the Kennedy School. Nye’s influence inspired her to switch her focus from domestic law enforcement to foreign policy. Nye also influenced Guliford to pursue a doctorate and to do so at Fletcher.

“I kept in touch with Professor Nye during the 12 years between my MPP and my matriculation to Fletcher,” she said. “In our first conversation about doctoral studies, he encouraged me to strongly consider Fletcher as institution to do my PhD.” 

After finishing her Fletcher PhD, Guliford followed Nye’s example and entered academia. She is now an assistant professor of politics at Drexel University.

Nye provided a professional, political and moral example for current Fletcher doctoral student Zviad Adzinbaia. A displaced person from the Russian-occupied Abkhazia region of Georgia, Adzinbaia has founded initiatives aimed at combatting authoritarianism through proactive information campaigns.

“Professor Nye’s insights on soft and smart power are foundational to my own work,” Adzinbaia said. “His vision of winning hearts and minds stands in sharp contrast to the tactics used by authoritarian regimes. His belief in the moral strength of democratic values continues to shape both my research and the way I engage with the world.”

Adzinbaia paid frequent visits to Nye’s nearby Harvard office during his own academic journey at Fletcher. On his final visit this March, Adzinbaia had recently returned from a trip to wartime Kyiv. He found that Nye, even near the end of his life, remained actively engaged on that and other causes.