For most of the twentieth century, America didn’t just lead the world—it defined it. From Hollywood blockbusters and blue jeans to democracy promotion and elite universities, U.S. influence radiated through culture, diplomacy, and credibility. This was soft power: the ability to shape global behavior not by coercion, but by example. And it worked—until it didn’t.

Soft Power: America’s Greatest Asset—And How We’re Throwing It Away is a razor-sharp, thirty-chapter examination of how the United States built unrivaled global influence—and how it's now dismantling it in real time. Drawing on decades of cultural, diplomatic, and political history, the book explains how everything from the Iraq War to TikTok, from Trump-era spectacle to gun violence, has fractured the image of a country once seen as a model to emulate.

Each chapter dissects a core pillar of soft power—from the moral weight of American universities and the global reach of pop culture, to the erosion of credibility, diplomacy, and public trust. The analysis is unsparing, evidence-driven, and devoid of nostalgia. It’s a story not just of decline, but of strategic negligence—how the U.S. confused militarism for leadership, exported hypocrisy instead of hope, and turned inward while the world looked elsewhere.

Timely, trenchant, and unflinchingly clear-eyed, this is required reading for anyone who wants to understand why America’s global standing has shifted—from admired to ignored—and what must be done to rebuild it before irrelevance becomes permanent.