This essay aims to raise a question about George W. Bush's legacy and whether post-Bush America can still attract other international actors to follow in its footsteps. On the one hand, it is widely accepted that during Mr G.W. Bush's leadership the American way of doing things gradually became less attractive, that he paid too much attention to developing American conventional strength instead of its soft leverage, and finally that his successor, Mr B. Obama, will have to fix some of the damage he caused. But, on the other hand, Mr Bush appeared to be a real statesman, who was able to fight against terrorism and protect his fellow citizens from another attack on U.S. soil.

Introduction

For the first time in human history almost all of mankind is politically awake, politically activated and politically conscious. This has brought a further shift in the perception of power, influence and global leadership. Power generally used to be linked with the possession of certain resources, such as: population, territory, economic size, military forces, political stability – namely the “hard power” indicators. According to Joseph S. Nye however one should also consider a country's “soft power” – an indirect ability to persuade others to follow in your footsteps. This concept has attracted a considerable amount of attention in recent years. The inventor of the notion believes that there is a bigger likelihood of achieving desired outcomes through attraction rather than coercion.