Who Gets Targeted with Soft Power? Evidence from Henry Kissinger’s International Seminar

Many states, nongovernmental organizations, and philanthropists use soft power to achieve their political goals. However, we know little about which countries these actors target. The author argues that given the large number of potential targets and the high costs of conducting influence campaigns abroad, soft power entrepreneurs strategically direct their efforts toward those countries in which their campaigns have the best chance of making a difference. The author expects that campaigns predominantly target liberal democracies, since the free exchange of ideas and opinions is likely to generate the intended admiration and attraction. To test this argument, the author draws on hand-coded attendance data from one of the most prestigious exchange programs during the Cold War: Henry Kissinger’s International Seminar (1952–1968). Results from numerous tests reveal that liberal democratic countries were more heavily targeted by Kissinger’s program than were nonliberal countries. Together, the article shows how (non)state actors strategically influence foreign intellectuals to forge international alliances.