The concept of “soft power” was originally articulated in the late 1980’s by an American professor, Joseph Nye. Standing in contrast to “hard power”, which emphasizes the threat of military force and economic punishment to advance a country’s international agenda, soft power relies on demonstrating and exporting the most desirable aspects of of a country’s culture to garner respect and cooperation from the universe of nations. In an increasingly interconnected world, primarily driven by rapid advances in technology and transportation, the importance of soft power increases with every passing year. In recent years, Monocle has undertaken an exhaustive look at soft power, including their 2012 rankings that were recently published. In this audio piece you get a fascinating summary of the top 20 for this year. And think about subscribing to Monocle because, well, it’s always superb.