NEW YORK, May 8. /TASS/. Joseph Nye, an American political scientist who coined the term "soft power" and contributed to the concept of neoliberal institutionalism, has died at the age of 88, Harvard Kennedy School said. "Joseph S. Nye Jr., Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus, whose ideas on the nature of power in international relations influenced generations of policymakers, academics, and students and made him one of the world’s most celebrated political thinkers, has died at the age of 88," it said. "Nye developed the concepts of soft power, smart power, and neoliberalism during six decades as a Harvard professor," it noted. In the US President Bill Clinton Administration (1993-2001), Nye served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs and Chair of the National Intelligence Council. In 1995-2004, he was Dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Nye’s theory of "soft power" describes a country's ability to influence other nations through attraction and persuasion without resorting to coercive pressure.