Types of Power
From Last Lesson
"What is needed is the realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love. What has happened is that we have had it wrong and confused [and pursued] goals through power devoid of love and conscience" (p. 247)
From The Essential Martin Luther King Jr. (2013)
Which of the theoretical lenses we discussed do you find the most compelling and why?
Prescribed Content
Types of power
Definitions and theories of power
Activating Your Thinking
What do we learn about power from these four clips?
Lesson Content
Barack Obama on On Hard, Soft and Smart Power
As for the senior ranks of my national security team, they all considered themselves internationalists to one degree or another: They believed that American leadership was necessary to keep the world moving in a better direction, and that our influence came in many forms. Even more liberal members of my team had no qualms about the use of “hard power” to go after terrorists and were scornful of leftist critics who made a living blaming the United States for every problem around the globe. Meanwhile, the most hawkish members of my team understood the importance of public diplomacy and considered the exercise of so-called soft power, like foreign aid and student exchange programs, to be essential ingredients of an effective US foreign policy.
The question was one of emphasis. How much concern did we have for the people beyond our borders, and how much should we simply worry about our own citizens? How much was our fate actually tied to the fate of people abroad? To what extent should America bind itself to multilateral institutions like the United Nations, and to what extent should we go it alone in pursuit of our own interests? Should we align ourselves with authoritarian governments that help keep a lid on possible chaos - or was the smarter long-term play to champion the forces of democractic reform (A Promised Land, 2020, p. 311)?
Soft power the evolution of a concept.pdfGuiding Questions:
How does Nye define power? Why does he define it in the way he does (focus particularly on the paragraph that starts "even when…"
How is 'power as resources' defined? Why do some prefer this definition? Why may this understanding of power be faulty?
Why does Nye see the traditional elements of power (military, population, economy) as misleading? Asked differently, explain his analogy of “The vehicle is not the power relationship. Knowing the horsepower and mileage of a vehicle does not tell us whether it will get to the preferred destination.”
What does Nye mean when he says, “it is important to make clear whether we are speaking of behavioral or resource-based definitions of power and to be aware of the imperfect relation between them.”
Why does Nye not reject realism/what value does he see in realism? Where does he see realism fall short?
Skip Page 5
Explain, “‘hard power is push; soft power is pull.’ Or to extend a common metaphor, hard power is like brandishing carrots or sticks; soft power is more like a magnet.”
What are two examples of soft power being in the eye of the beholder?
How might soft power be coercive?
How is soft power different from sharp power?
What is smart power and how has China attempted to use it?
Viewing Questions:
What is power?
What are the three ways to get the outcomes you want? Which are hard power and which are soft power?
What do power resources depend on and why is this important to understand?
Why does propaganda not produce soft power?
How has information technology changes the way in which power is diffused among actors?
Power Indices
What are the seven cyber power indices?
How do the authors of the index differentiate between intent and capability?
Select a country and summarize their cyber power strengths and weaknesses.
Inquiry Questions:
How does Soft Power 30 define hard power? Soft power?
What are the three pillars of soft power?
What six categories does Soft Power 30 use in order to rank countries?
Select a country and summarize their soft power strengths and weaknesses.
Global Politics in Action
China's Self-Defeating Economic Statecraft.pdfGuiding Prompt:
As you read this article, create a 3 column table.
Column 1: identify how China has attempted to use it's power.
Column 2: explain whether this attempt is an example of hard, soft, sharp or smart power.
Column 3: to what extent does the author think China has been successful in their power play?
Guiding Prompt
Of the five myths, which one resonated with you most, and why, which one would you like to learn more about, and why and, which one did you find yourself not entirely convinced of (or completely disagreed with), and why?
Guiding Questions
How has China attempted to use soft power in Kenya?
Why has the "top-down" approach to soft power in China raised concerns?
If there are issues of discrimination, how might that defeat the purpose of using the soft power approach?
What do they suggest China can do to more effectively engage their soft power?
Why might the news articles be better described as sharp power than the hard power suggested by the reporter?
Why is hard cash and concrete and not enough to successfully use soft power?
Guiding Questions
In what way are sanctions the middle ground between diplomacy and military force in trying to persuade countries to make foreign policy changes?
To whom are sanctions being applied to?
Why do states need to be careful not to cause "intolerable economic blowback" when enacting a sanction?
List five ways/examples in which sanctions are either ineffective or cause more issues than they solve?
Non-Military Power
Read the section entitled "Power From Power" and explain how state actors who benefit from the move to Green Power will be able to benefit from the transition.
Choose one of these three articles to read. How do you see power being utilized by the various state actors in each article?
Extension Activities
The Can-Do Power: America's Advantage and Biden's Chance
The Can-Do Power.pdfReading Prompt:
In this article just prior to President Joe Biden's inauguration, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, explores the various ways in which China and the United States have, and could in the future, both lose and gain power across the globe.
While reading this article, identify the ways in which both the United States and China have lost both soft and hard power in recent years and ways in which they could regain power within global politics.
Guiding Questions:
How does the article define hard and soft power?
Explain, in detail, exactly what sharp power is.
Provide at least three specific examples of sharp power in action.
Checking For Understanding
Who Is Militarizing The South China Sea.pdfWhat roles do each of the following types of power play in the conflict?
hard
soft
smart
sharp (authoritarian states are attempting to exert influence through sharp power, which typically stems from ideologies that privilege state power over individual liberty and are fundamentally hostile to open debate and independent thought. Practice differs from regime to regime, but sharp power usually involves censorship and manipulation designed not to win over publics but to degrade the integrity of independent institutions.)