Power

3.3 National Power

 Introduction

• National Power is the ability or capability of

a nation to secure the goals and objectives
of its national interests in relation with
other nations. It involves the capacity to
use force or threat of use of force or influ-
ence over others for securing the goals of
national interest.
 Approaches of Power
• Hard Power:
• Direct strategy. It seeks to influence behavior through
coercive means. Examples: war, the threat of military in-
tervention, and economic sanction.
• Soft Power:
• Cooperative. It seeks to achieve behavioral outcomes by designing
environment in the way that facilitate and encourage desired results.
• The aim of soft power is to get foreign actors to pursue the goals and
behaviors of the home state – to get others to want what you want
• It includes political ideals and ideologies, cultural pattern, and global
and regional economic and political structures.
 Smart Power
• The combination of soft and hard power in the right mix in the
appropriate context yields Smart Power. “we must speak softly
and carry a big stick” Teddy Roosevelt.
• Hence, smart power is a mixture of both hard power and soft
power.
• Smart power means developing an integrated strategy,
resource base, and tool kit to achieve objectives, drawing on
both hard and soft power.
• It is an approach that underscores the necessity of a strong
military, but also invests heavily in alliances, partnerships, and
institutions at all levels to expand state’s influence and
establish the legitimacy of state’s action.
Tools of Smart Power
 References

• Introduction to International Relations by M. Cox & R. Campanaro (London: LSE,

2016). Chapter 15 “Power”.
• World Politics: Trend & Transformation by Charles W. Kegley & Shannon L. Blanton
(Boston: Cengage, 2011). Chapter 8. PP. 275-284
• Global Politics by Andrew Heywood. Chapter 9. P. 209.
• http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/academy/content/pdf/participant-papers/2015-12_an
nual/Power-In-Ir-By-Raimzhanova,-
A.pdf
• https://
csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/media/csis/pubs/0
71106_csissmartpowerreport.pdf

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH9hn3_Q4qQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_58v19OtIIg