Power Politics What Makes A Strong State

Power Politics, What Makes A Strong State Essay, Research Paper

Power Politics: What Is A Strong State

What is Power and how does it apply to geography. According to P.J. Taylor (334) “Power is the ability to be successful in a conflict; this maybe overt through force or the threat of force; or covert through non decision-making or structural advantage”. The term power will be used to discuss how the United States can be described as the most dominate hegemony of the past century. Power can also be defined or generalized into many characteristics that describe how a country functions geographically. Power is a major role in political influence. It affects the politics in foreign policy and many other foreign relations as well. Power can intimidate or provoke a country to act in a way they might not act. Power is a major asset that can bring a country to reach its potential. Power can also ruin a country. “Political institutions are the rules that regulate the exercise of power in societies and in the world. When power becomes institutionalized – that is, when rules for the use of power are widely accepted – the holders of power have authority. Without authority to justify it, the exercise of power becomes a test of the raw force that power holders are able to wield, in the face of widespread resistance” (Goldstein). Power holders in the political sphere almost always want their use of power to be viewed as legitimate which means that they work to institutionalize their power they want to make it authoritative. This paper will discuss the types of power that stabilizes as well as propels countries to greatness. The countries shown will possess political or economic power or a combination of the two as shown in the United States of America. The Unites States is a leading country in the world because it has both political and economic power. I will present some of the criteria Modeski used in his model and the cycle he refers to as “Modeski’s Long Cycles of Global Politics”. We will discuss both the political power and economic power of the United States as it establishes global order.

In today’s society a balance of power is necessary. The term balance of power refers to the relatively equal power capabilities of rival states or alliances. The balance of power theory maintains that when one state or alliance increases its power or applies it more aggressively, threatened states will increase their own power in response, often by forming a counter-balancing coalition. Many states will counter any threat to its own security by allying with other threatened states and then increasing their own military capabilities. A state’s power is derived from the size of its landmass, population, and its level of technology. This potential powers measured into military capability. The effective use of military force depends on such elements as leadership, morale, geography, and luck. The balance of power is extremely important in international relations; it can distinguish between good friendly relations and war. Throughout history, power balancing is a common principle. For example, “In the 17th century the Habsburg dynasty, which rules Austria and Spain, threatened to dominate Europe. During the Thirty Years war, a coalition that included Sweden, Britain, France, and the Netherlands defeated the rulers of the Habsburg empire” (Encarta). Alliances are important to help smaller states defend themselves from aggressive states looking to control others. Though these alliances many states came together and created their own states.

In today’s world, national governments have the major power within the territories under their control. Without the assent of the government, no corporation could prosper. “State institutions differ from other institutions in a society (such as educational institutions or religious institutions) in several ways”(Goldstein). The political rule through which a government operates is monopolistic. They require compliance, and they tolerate no strong competition, hence being monopolistic. A government will use force, if necessary, to secure the abiding of the rules they enforce, and withdrawing from the oversight of governmental bodies is difficult. You can change many other aspects of life, but you are unable to change governments. Looking at the United States (US); we can see a power that has been developed. This country according to Modeski is the state that has the most influence in the world today. The question that remains is “How did this country rise to power.’ In this next section there is a brief history of the US, followed by the factors that brought this colony into the world’s spotlight. The Unites states consists of an area 3,696,000 sq. miles (9,573,000 sq. km. Its population currently is 263,300,000. The English colonized this state in the 1600s. In 1776, the 13 American colonies won independence from England. The new nation now began to expand west word. After a civil war from 1861 – 65 the state was unified as a whole. Then the late 19th century brought industrialization to the Northeast and Midwest, attracting millions of European immigrants. The United States entered into World War I in 1917. “Many observers interpreted the First World War as the inevitable culmination of realist thinking in international relations. Realism was interpreted as representing the Old World’s way of conducting international affairs. The entry of the Uni