POLI 319 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Middle Power, Hard Power, Great Power
13 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
POLI 342
01.24.2018
IDENTITY AND POWER
Power defines what the identity of the state is while
identity influences the application of power →
bidirectional relationship between the two
Many different definitions on what power is, how it can be
quantified.
POWER — VERY COMPLEX
The Main issue: often we think of power as very
material, but is this all?
•the US = military might. This is an element, but there
are other important elements
How we try to define Canada as a power obscures our
view of it.
•the middle power debate
•can result in missing certain aspects to do with the
actual exercise of power, crafting world affairs
•golden years after WW2 when we had the ear of the
Great powers
It’s important to understand all the dimensions.
Power is the way states will act, leading to how they
exercise their influence to get what they want.
This is not only done through force, also:
•economic sanctions
•threats (Harper telling Russia to get out of the Ukraine
even though we wouldn’t actually start war with Russia)
•relates to “principle power”, when some of our actions/
rhetoric reflects that of a higher power
•diplomacy
•cultural exchange
Power (working definition): ability to get another actor
to do what it would not otherwise do, through different
means.
Hard power: tangible mechanisms, capabilities, “military
might”; material resources
•economy
•military
•population income
•population size → army size
•geography/climate — harder to have a war in the cold,
different areas have different histories
•technological supremacy
•raw material & natural resources
•Harper redefining our power status on the basis of our
energy resources
•productivity
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Document Summary
Power de nes what the identity of the state is while identity in uences the application of power bidirectional relationship between the two. Many different de nitions on what power is, how it can be quanti ed. The main issue: often we think of power as very material, but is this all: the us = military might. This is an element, but there are other important elements. Power is the way states will act, leading to how they exercise their in uence to get what they want. Power (working de nition): ability to get another actor to do what it would not otherwise do, through different means. Soft power: non-tangible elements (joe nye: political culture, national ideology, diplomatic skill, level of education, reputation on the world stage. Identity is not a given: it is in uenced, reproduced, perpetuated. Ours is as a country with liberal values, peacekeeper.
