Peter Cutler, a Princeton professor, accepts a government position in international security, but must deal with unexpected consequences when he mishandles negotiations involving Pakistan and the illegal transfer of nuclear weapons. "Nye delivers an entertaining tale of good intentions gone awry in the nation's capital." -- Washington Post Book World , November 7, 2004 "Nye understands power-its uses and abuses, its seductive and fleeting quality ... a fast-paced, knowing, compelling novel." -- Evan Thomas, Newsweek Assistant Managing Editor and Author of Robert Kennedy: His Life "a realistic, entertaining, thought-provoking novel... written by a respected author with an engaging style and... intimate knowledge of the territory." -- Publisher's Weekly , September 27, 2004 "a taut but sensitive political thriller-ambition, betrayal, intrigue, terrorism, sex, it's all there. It has the freshness of tomorrow's headlines." -- Tina Brown "beautifully crafted, poignantly told ... must reading for all who are tempted to make a pact with power" -- William S. Cohen, Former Secretary of Defense "fun to read ... an entirely new perspective on the normally sober field of 'foreign affairs'." -- Richard Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations "powerful ... [it contains] uncomfortable truths ... about how Washington can be in reality ... a cautionary tale ... colorful characters ... great suspense" -- Walter Isaacson, Author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and president of the Aspen Institute Joseph S. Nye Jr., Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, was Chairman of the National Intelligence Council and an Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Clinton administration. He is the author of several books, including Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics , The Paradox of American Power: Why the World's Only Superpower Can't Go It Alone , and Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power .{/BIO} All you really need for a lasting reputation as a major foreign policy thinker is one Big Idea. George F. Kennan, for example, is immortalized for proposing the "containment" of Soviet communism, just as Samuel P. Huntington will always be known for warning of a "clash of civilizations" between the West and Islam. More recently, Robert Kagan prompted transatlantic hissy fits when he suggested that, on strategic matters, "Americans are from Mars, and Europeans are from Venus." (Wannabe wonks, take note: A memorable catch-phrase helps guarantee a spot on the roster of global gurus.) Enter Joseph S. Nye Jr. In his 1990 book Bound to Lead, Nye coined the concept of "soft power." Traditional hard power is the ability (through military force or other means) to compel foreign countries or leaders to behave in particular ways. Soft power, by contrast, is the ability to attract and persuade others to do as you wish. American soft power can take many forms: trade and investment, movies and pop culture, diplomacy, educational exchanges and, of course, the values underpinning U.S. foreign policy. Soft power is an important insight for which Nye deserves great credit. And just to make sure no one forgets it, he has spent the past several years refining and repackaging soft power through op-ed essays, journal articles and more books. Indeed, his stints in the State and Defense departments -- not to mention his nine years running Harvard's Kennedy School of Government -- seem mere footnotes to his own big idea. Whenever Joseph Nye makes his way to that Great Political Science Department in the Sky, rest assured that "soft power" will appear in the first paragraph of his obituary. Yet, with his intellectual legacy secure, Nye has now risked his reputation by penning a middling novel about power, politics and (oh my) sex in Washington. Indeed, picking up The Power Game, I couldn't help but recall Michael Jordan leaving the Chicago Bulls to play minor-league baseball. Would Nye, too, embarrass himself? Yes and no. The novel will certainly appeal to U.S. foreign policy junkies and those familiar with Nye's past writings, but no one should confuse it with high literature. Indeed, most of the characters are strictly one-dimensional, and the dialogue often defies plausibility. (Ironically, this is not even the best book about Washington called The Power Game; that honor goes to Hedrick Smith's 1988 nonfiction volume.) Even so, Nye delivers an entertaining tale of good intentions gone awry in the nation's capital, against the backdrop of -- you guessed it -- soft power. Meet our hero, Peter Cutler, a happily married, late-forties or so academic teaching international relations at Princeton, a few years in the future. After an old friend lures him into an advisory role on a successful U.S. presidential campaign, Peter becomes undersecretary of state for security affairs in the new Democratic administration. Mr. Cutler commutes to Washington hoping to make the world a safer