Lecture 11 Basics of Power Max Weber: Power is the ability to make someone to do something s/he would otherwise not do · Power as 'influence' · Classical Realism: human nature, elements of national power · Neo-Realism: distribution of capabilities in the international system Is it possible to depict and measure power? This raises the question of whether power can be 'held': · Powerful actors e.g. by government, king, Western States · Power contained in structures e.g. discourse, ideology Alternatively, how can power be exercised? · In a direct way through a relationship between particular actors e.g. army X attacks country Y . In an indirect way through institutions e.g. country Z needs to obey a contract (institutional) But isn't power often based on the 'perception of power''? · Actor X is powerful because I assume s/he has power over me? How to determine whether a state is powerful state? · A state 'has' power because of ... · Realism: size of the military, size of the economy (GDP), however this does not always win. (US and UK lost the war in Iraq) But: 'Latent power" versus 'de facto' power · Not every advantage can actually be exploited (domain) · Economic resources cannot always be used (No substitutes in place) · Usually, the power of a state is more than direct, visible influence
· States create structures that support their powerful position (hegemonic stability theory) -HST indicates that the international system is more likely to remain stable when a single nation-state is the dominant world power, or hegemon. Stephen Lukes' 'Three Faces of Power'- (In: 'Power: A Radical View') First "face" of power · Observable forms of executing power · Power as a resource, power over a group Second "face" of power · Less observable forms of conflict and power · Agenda setting power, power as non-decision Third "face" of power · Incorporated forms of power · Usually ideological, non-reflective, covert How does power work? Power is closely linked to the recognition of authority different kinds of authority exist that leads us to obey · 'physical' authority - force · Legal authority - contracts/laws · Ideational authority (climate change, science)- ideas/explanations · Societal authority - social status (teacher, pupil) · Spiritual authority - religion Models of Power in IR: Power and foreign policy (J. Nye) - from 'hard power' to 'soft power' and 'smart power' . Hard Power: 'Sticks and Carrots' · Soft Power: Persuasion, Identification (European Union) . Smart Power: Combination of Hard & Soft Power · Recent examples demonstrate how this has become a common feature of foreign policy: China's Soft Power Initiative: Confucius-Institutes, Higher Education Cooperation, Cultural Exchange
· Some states only rely on soft power in international relations: e.g. Vatican, Norway Towards a taxonomy of power in IR (Barnett and Duvall) 2005 fiirst, need to distinguish between: · kind: attribute/interaction vs. social relations · specificity: direct vs. indirect (diffuse) Specificity Direct Indirect (diffuse) Kind Interactions between specific actors Through social structures (constitutive) Compulsory - such as