Discuss the Claim That Power in Global Politics Is Mostly Exercised Through the Use of Force and Threats

Discuss the claim that power in global politics is mostly exercised through the use of force and threats.

Power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events. The claim that power in global politics is mostly exercised through the use of force and threats is true to an extent as power is also exercised through many other ways in Global Politics.

The use of force and threats in power is known as hard power and the opposite of that is soft power, these terms were introduced by Joseph Nye who is a political scientist. I believe that that power in global politics is mostly exercised through the use of soft powers such as the United Nations and the shift of ideals in the 21st century.

In global politics today, there are many different states with difference stances and beliefs on issues. Most states commonly try to use an approach of soft power. Soft power is a persuasive approach to global politics which uses cultural and economical approaches to influence events. Heywood states that “Soft power is becoming as important as hard power in influencing political outcomes”. This increase of importance of soft power could be due to the prominent amount of hard power in the Two World Wars and the Cold War. Non-state organisations such as the United Nations use influence and persuasion to achieve state goals. The United Nations is a prime example of soft power, it was founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations. The power held by this organisation is through the use of soft power as it doesn't use force or threats to achieve their favourable outcome. Many countries also have free trade deals which show how the world can function peacefully. Free trade deals show that in global politics power is soft It allows countries to co exist and benefit off each other. More countries have liberalist view which show a rise in soft power. Hard power is limited and states are not easily controlled through the use of soft power you can negotiate deals which make it mutually beneficial for each other. Due to the rapid increase in globalisation countries are able to develop faster and become apart of the global community.

Today we still see that power in global politics is also exercised through the use of force and threats through the Syrian Civil War, North Korea and ISIS. Hard power is the forceful approach to global politics which primarily uses military power. Through the use of hard power states are able to exercise power through the use of force and threats they do this by placing sanctions or starting wars. The use of power in the Syrian War is exercised through force and threats as President Assad uses military force to control