From Seduction to Security: The Role of Reputation in International Politics According to Nicholas J. Cull

This essay review examines Nicholas J. Cull’s Reputational Security: Refocusing Public Diplomacy for a Dangerous World (2024), focusing on the shift from “soft power” as a tool of attraction to “reputational security” as an existential defensive necessity. In today’s landscape of hybrid warfare and hyper-connectivity, Cull argues that a state’s international image is a vital component of national security, essential for mobilizing support dur- ing crises. The review explores this paradigm through current geopolitical tensions, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the reputational crises of Israel and the European Union, and the transactional turn in U.S. for- eign policy under Donald Trump. By putting Cull’s thesis into dialogue with John Mearsheimer’s realism, the analysis questions whether commu- nication facilitates geopolitical strategy or merely legitimizes power-based decisions. Finally, it highlights Cull’s innovative concept of “information disarmament,” pondering the viability of universal values and “cultural re- flexivity” in an increasingly fragmented and polarized global order.