Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka begreppet ‘mjuk makt’. Mjuk makt är en relativt ny term som myntades av statsvetaren Joseph Nye år 1990. Sedan dess har detta nya begrepp förändrat hur vi ser på internationell makt. Genom användandet av attraktion och lockelse använder sig stater av mjuk makt för att få inflytande. Motsatsen till mjuk makt, hård makt, är ett annat verktyg som stater använder för att genom att hota eller framkalla resultat få inflytande. Dessa två verktyg och deras användbarhet har blivit ett ämne för debatt i den nuvarande diskursen inom internationell politik. Begreppet mjuk makt utvecklas konstant och formas av experter och politiker världen runt som har omfamnat termen. Mjuk makt har sina svagheter; den är svår att mäta och analysera, det är även svårt för en stat att använda mjuk makt aktivt. Men det har blivit ett livsnödvändigt verktyg under detta århundrade för att maximera effektiviteten för en stats utrikespolitik.   Det empiriska materialet i denna uppsats grundas mest på svensk mjuk makt, men det inkluderar även diverse stormakter och deras mjuka makt. Genom att använda kvalitativ textanalys har jag försökt urskilja vad som är relativt för min uppsats och vad som är de viktigaste sakerna att inkludera. / The purpose of this essay is to examine the concept of ‘soft power’. Soft power is a relatively new term that was coined by the political scientist Joseph Nye in the year 1990. Since then this new term has changed how we today perceive international power. Using attraction and appeal actors use soft power to try to gain influence. The opposite of soft power, hard power, is another tool that states use to gain influence by trying to induce or threaten. These two tools and their usefulness for a state have become a topic of debate in the current international politics discourse. The concept of soft power is constantly evolving and it is being shaped by experts and politicians around the world who embrace the term. Soft power does have its weaknesses; it is hard to measure and analyze, and it is also hard for a state to use soft power actively. But it has become a tool that is vital for states in the 21st century to maximize the effectiveness of one’s foreign policy. The empirical material in this essay is partially based on Swedish soft power, but also includes various greater powers and their soft power. Using qualitative content analysis I have tried to discern what is relative to the essay and what are the most vital things to include.

This thesis examines India’s exercise of its powers that it utilizes in its foreign policy on the international arena. The aim of the study is to determine what international power India can be classified as, and whether it achieves the goals of either being a great- or superpower. This is done by analysing not only the conventional concept of power, that being the hard power concept, but also the relatively newly conceived concept of soft power, originally conceived by the American political scientist Joseph Nye in the 1990s. Therefore, the research methodology is comprised of a theory consuming case study. The following question is being asked: What kind of international power is India? The conclusions being presented illustrate a foreign policy limited in its scope of influence, plagued mostly by institutional impediments due to limited budgets and thus limited resources in both concepts of power. Consequently, India cannot be classified either as a superpower nor a greatpower, but more as a regional one.