POWER IN WORLD POLITICS PO420 World Politics Prof. Murat Arik School of Legal Studies Kaplan University

UNDERSTANDING POWER IS CRITICAL TO UNDERSTANDING WORLD POLITICS

Politics is about who gets what, when, and how WHAT IS POWER, AND HOW IS IT MEASURED? POWER Soft (Subjective) Power Hard (Objective) Power Kinetic Influence Power explains the political process

WHAT IS POWER, AND HOW IS IT MEASURED Power Hard Power Military CapabilityEconomic Capability Soft Power Cultural, Ideological and Moral Appeal Economic Growth and Development Information Technology Investment in Education

WHAT ARE THE DYNAMICS OF POWER? Dynamics of Power Differing forms of influence Shaped by perceptions Dynamic and Changing RelativeSituational Carrot or Stick? How we interpret reality? Possession of nuclear power Shift in economic power, change in military technology? Relative to whom? Terrorist power? Context specific? According to whom?

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR ELEMENTS OF POWER?

OBJECTIVE (TANGIBLE) SOURCES OF POWER Military Capacity (how strong our military power is to protect our country?) Military spending? National Infrastructure and Level of Economic Development Geography Natural Resources

WORLD MILITARY SPENDING (2007)

OBJECTIVE (TANGIBLE) SOURCES OF POWER Military Capacity (how strong our military power is to protect our country?) Military spending? National Infrastructure and Level of Economic Development (industrial base, scientific development, transportation and telecommunications) Quantity and quality of industries Level of economic development Geography Natural Resources

GROSS NATIONAL INCOME PER CAPITA MAP

OBJECTIVE (TANGIBLE) SOURCES OF POWER Military Capacity (how strong our military power is to protect our country?) Military spending? National Infrastructure and Level Geography Geopolitics is a study of geographical distribution of power among states Whether it is landlocked or has outlets to the sea Is it in a temperate zone Is it mountainous al Resources

OBJECTIVE (TANGIBLE) SOURCES OF POWER Military Capacity (how strong our military power is to protect our country?) Military spending? National Infrastructure and Level Geography Natural Resources: major sources of national power Resources to feed your people, to industrialize, to trade, to increase your military capability, etc. Oil, nuclear energy, rivers, etc.

U.S. PETROLEUM IMPORTS BY COUNTRY: 2005

OBJECTIVE (TANGIBLE) SOURCES OF POWER Military Capacity (how strong our military power is to protect our country?) Military spending? National Infrastructure and Level Geography Natural Resources: major sources of national power Resources to feed your people, to industrialize, to trade, to increase your military capability, etc. Oil, nuclear energy, rivers, etc. Population: a critical component of power Its size, age distribution, education and health do matter for the power

POPULATION: 2007

POPULATION GROWTH RATE

GLOBAL AIDS EPIDEMIC IMPACTS DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE WORLD: 2006

SUBJECTIVE POWER FACTORS National Culture: cultural values affect your behavior National Morale: level of support for the government policies Quality of Government and Political Stability political stability is a vital element of power Quality of Foreign Relations Diplomacy Intelligence

WHAT PATTERNS OF POWER RELATIONSHIPS EXIST AMONG STATES? Balance of power and its variations States’ reliance on power to protect their interests either by themselves or in alliance with others Balance of power as a tactic to keep peace and stability in international relations The traditional approach to the balance of power theory is complicated by two developments in international relations: interdependence and globalization, and terrorism Types of balance of power Tight bipolar: 1940s and 1950s A loose bipolar: 1950s to 1960s Beginning multipolar balance: in the 1970s and 80s Multipolarity: in the 1990s Unipolarity: the U.S. as a dominant force

AN AGE OF BIPOLARITY: THE COLD WAR CA. 1970

EUROPE: POLITICAL CHANGES 1989–2005

POWER SHIFTS AND REALIGNMENTS How Power Shifts over Time Overextending military resources Globalization and Shifting Power Economic integrations, trade regimes, global economic organizations, and power of multinational corporations have dramatic impact on power structure Hoffman: economic globalization, cultural globalization, and political globalization Globalization has made it hard for state to protect themselves using traditional sources of power Impact of Change in the Global Distribution of Power Rapid shifts in the global distribution of power create instability; the world seems to prone to the violence; bipolar tends to be more stable than multipolar world; the globalization and information technology have both negative and positive effects on power relationships among state and non-sate actors The Rise of Terrorist Power

COLLECTIVE SECURITY AS A METHOD OF SEEKING SECURITY A Failed Attempt at Collective Security: League of Nations after the WWI Collective Security Resurfaces: The UN resolutions legitimizing the use of force Has Collective Security Supplanted Balance of Power in World Politics? Necessity to address systemic violations of human rights because of the growing trend of ethnic nationalism.

Thank you! Questions?