Hard power - Citizendia

Hard Power is a term describing power obtained from the utilisation of military and/or economic power to influence the behaviour or interests of other political bodies. As the name would suggest, this form of political power is often aggressive, and is most effective when imposed by one political body upon another of lesser military and/or economic power.

1 Original Definition
2 See also
3 External links
4 Further reading

Original Definition

Hard power is a term used in international relations. Hard power is a theory that describes using military and economic means to influence the behavior or interests of other political bodies. A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. It is used in contrast to soft power, which refers to power that comes from diplomacy, culture and history. Soft power is a term used in International relations theory to describe the ability of a Political body such as a State, to indirectly influence the behavior Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting Negotiations between representatives of groups or states Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology

While the existence of hard power has a long history, the term arose when Joseph Nye coined 'soft power' as a new, and different form of power in a State's foreign policy. Hard power is mostly placed in the International Relations discipline of Realism, where military power is seen as the expression of a states' strength in the international community.

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. A nation is a Human Cultural and Social Community. In as much as most members never meet each other yet feel a common bond it may be considered A nation is a Human Cultural and Social Community. In as much as most members never meet each other yet feel a common bond it may be considered 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. For the military meaning see Armed forces. For the Soviet sports society see Armed Forces (sports society Armed Forces War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units A military alliance is an agreement between two or more military factions related to Wartime planning commitments or contingencies such agreements can be both This article refers to deterrent theories of punishment For the legal theory of justice see Deterrence (legal. Alternatively economic power can be used which relies on aid, bribes and economic sanctions in order to induce and coerce. There is no agreed-upon definition of power in Economics. At least five definitions of power have been used Purchasing power, i Aid (from the french word aide, also known as international aid, overseas aid, or foreign aid, especially in the United States) is Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption is an act usually implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient in ways not consistent with the duties of that person Economic sanctions are domestic penalties applied by one country (or group of countries on another for a variety of reasons Example: "Mr. Kindleburger often uses hard power in the classroom, upon his students. He often scolds them and threatens them with detentions daily. " Hard power is often threatening.

External links

Global Power Barometer

Contents

Original Definition

See also

External links

Further reading