Is the term 'soft power' just a redundant buzzword in government and academic circles? Geoff R. Berridge examines its true meaning and how it's often misunderstood in the realm of international relations.

This article discusses the moment when one's adherence to personal principles is outweighed by collective action's pull. Essentially, each individual's response to their environment varies. For instance, witnessing a single person rioting might not compel someone to join due to moral standpoints, fear of the police, or social stigma. However, seeing a mass engaging in such behavior can alter that viewpoint since the risk of individual consequence diminishes. The author draws inspiration from Duncan J. Watts's "Everything is Obvious (Once You Know the Answer): How Common Sense Fails Us," which explains the historically complex phenomenon of riots and their explanations, and sociologist Mark Granovetter's mathematical model, "Threshold Models of Collective Behavior," which offers a novel perspective on the psychology of crowd behavior.