POWER

REALISM
 Power is a key concept of realist theories.
 Foundation is the principle of dominance along with states desire for
pursuing power.
 It distinguishes Anarchy, human nature, Statism , Survival, Self-help and
Balance of power as key assumptions of realist theory.
 Realism developed in reaction to the liberal tradition that realists called
Idealism who believes that human nature is essentially good and see
International system as a community.

DEFINING AND ESTIMATING POWER
THEORETICAL DEFINITION OF POWER
 States ability to control or at least influence other states on the out
comes of the event.
EMPIRICAL DEFINITION OF POWER
 Tangible components(Material elements)
 Geography
 Natural Resources
 Food
 Raw Materials
 Industrial capacity
 Military Capability
 Population
 Intangible components(Non-Material components)
 National will
 Diplomatic skills
 Popular Support for the Government

ANARCHY AND SOVEREIGNTY
 The International System is anarchical and security must be
dominant for any state because the lack of a central government
that can support rules.
 Sovereignty means the government has the right to do whatever
it wants in its territory.
 Lack of a world police to punish the states if they
break a treaty of international law makes
enforcement of international agreement difficult.
 So each state is responsible for its’ own survival
and free decline its’ own interest for power.

BALANCE OF POWER
 States act to preserve a Balance of power in the system in order to
prevent any state in the system dominate another.
 If state tries to dominate others, others will work to balance it by
mainly two different ways.
 Increasing their own power.Eg:North Korean Misile development
 Alliances (Combining efforts to make equilibrium amidst
the growing power).Eg:AUKUS,QUAD,NATO
 Action of Balance of power leads to war.
 Relative power of the states changes
over time so it requires constant changes.
Alliances also can be changed.

HARD ,SOFT AND SMART POWER
 It is the power of one state to force other state to act in certain manner.
 It is the direct and observable use of force or coercion.
 Hard power is not necessarily violence.
 Soft power rest on the ability to shape the preferences of others without
using power, coercion or violence but through cultural appeal, Political values
and norms and foreign policy. -Joseph Nye-
 Legitimacy is central for soft power.
HARD POWER
SOFT POWER
SMART POWER
 Strategic use and balance of both hard and soft power
resources.
 Soft power approach would be used both tools of
appeals and threats to create favorable outcome or
behavior.

POWER DISTRIBUTION IN INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM
UNIPOLAR SYSTEM
BIPOLARITY
MULTIPOLARITY
 System in which there is only
one hegemony in the international
society(Hegemony)
 A system in international; society
where there are two big powers
which has influence over all other
states.
 There are more than two countries which maintain their hegemonies in
the world.
 Peace is best preserved by hegemony and next best by bipolarity.