Hard power
Encyclopedia : H : HA : HAR : Hard power
Hard power is a concept which is mainly used in realism in international relations and refers to national power which comes from military and economic means.
It is used in contrast to soft power, which refers to power that comes from diplomacy, culture and history.
Hard power lies at the command end of the spectrum of behaviours and describes a nation's ability to coerce or induce another nation to perform a course of action. This can be done through military power which consists of coercive diplomacy, war and alliance using threats and force with the aim of coercion, deterrence and protection. Alternatively economic power can be used which relies on aid, bribes and economic sanctions in order to induce and coerce.
One of the best examples of hard power is the 2003 United States invasion of Iraq and its mutual control over much of the world. Nations like the United States can use their known military potential to force other nations in the world to follow their actions or respond to their wishes.
See also
| Power in international relations | |
|---|---|
| Power statuses
| Middle power > Regional power | Global power/Great power | Superpower | Hyperpower |
| Emerging superpowers
| People's Republic of China as an emerging superpower>People's Republic of China | Republic of India | European Union |
| Future geopolitics
| African Century > Asian Century | Indian Century | European Century | Pacific Century |
| Types of power
| Soft power > Hard power | Political power | Power (sociology) | Bases of power | Power politics | Polarity in international relations |
| Other
| Second superpower > SCO | BRIC |
Further reading
- Joseph S. Nye, Jr, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.