Joseph Nye: Intellectual giant who saved US-Japan alliance

Foreign policy expert believed Washington's tilt to isolationism would create instability

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Joseph Nye speaks with Nikkei during an interview in mid-April. (Photo by Katsuyoshi Tanaka)

HIROYUKI AKITA

TOKYO -- If forced to name just one of Joseph Nye's many accomplishments, one would typically choose the concept of "soft power" -- that countries can pursue diplomacy through ideas and values and not just through military strength.

But from the perspective of the Asia-Pacific, Nye, a former dean of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government who died Tuesday, made even more significant contributions.

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