In the current global context, there is a shift in power paradigm from the rigid realpolitik perspective towards the inclusion of multiple faces of power. This publication focuses on the power forms identified by Joseph Nye: hard, soft, and smart, and evaluates education as a resource of power. Resource ambiguity is one of the key shortcomings of soft power theory. Education is a smart power resource since it has both hard and soft power characteristics. The case study of Kazakhstan reveals that international educational programs allow education to become a power resource.

Aigerim Raimzhanova studied International Relations at the University of Rochester (NY, USA) and Management at the Regents University (London, UK). She has obtained a Ph.D degree from the University of Bucharest and the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin, Germany.

Power in International Relations - Issues of Soft Power - Resources of Power: Hard, Soft, and Smart - Education as a Resource of Power - Case study of Kazakhstan - Education as a Power Resource in Kazakhstan - International Education