Hard and Soft Power Flashcards
(13 cards)
What is Hard Power?
Hard power is the use of military and economic means to influence the behaviour or interests of other political bodies.
Hard power includes coercive strategies like military action and economic sanctions.
What is Soft Power?
The ability to attract and co-opt and to shape the preferences of others through appeal and attraction.
Soft power relies on diplomacy, culture, and values rather than coercion.
Who defined power as ‘A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do’?
Robert Dahl in 1957.
This definition focuses on direct influence and decision-making.
What criticism did Bachrach and Baratz have regarding Dahl’s definition of power?
They claimed it was flawed as it did not appreciate ‘non-decision making’.
They emphasized the importance of controlling the agenda that leads to decisions.
What does Steven Lukes add to the concept of power in his third face model?
He introduces the idea of thought control, where power is exercised by manipulating the psychology of others.
This perspective aligns with Marxist views of ideological power.
What is the definition of military power?
The capacity of a state to commit an aggressive act against another state, up to and including full-scale war.
Examples include acts of aggression by China and Russia.
What is an example of economic power?
Economic power involves incentives such as economic sanctions, trade barriers, tariffs, and restrictions on financial transactions.
Examples include sanctions against South Africa and Russia.
What are economic sanctions?
Commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted country.
Sanctions aim to compel compliance with international laws or norms.
What is an example of soft power used by the UK and EU?
They are recognized as leading ‘soft powers’ in the international system, utilizing attraction and shared values.
This contrasts with the coercive strategies of hard power.
What is Cuban Medical Internationalism?
A program where Cuban health workers have worked in various countries, helping to prevent international isolation and increase revenue for Cuba.
This program has sent thousands of health workers to Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
Fill in the blank: Hard power encompasses military and economic _______.
[carrots] and [sticks].
‘Carrots’ refer to incentives while ‘sticks’ refer to coercive measures.
True or False: Soft power relies on coercion and threats.
False.
Soft power is based on attraction and shared values instead of coercive measures.
What was the purpose of the trade sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa?
To oppose racial injustice and press for political change.
These sanctions were a form of economic power exerted by multiple countries.
