Editing Power politics

{{short description|International relations theory that a state's goal is to further its interests}}
{{Further|Power (international relations)}}
{{other uses}}

'''Power politics''' is a [[power (international relations)|theory of power]] in [[international relations]] which contends that distributions of [[power (social and political)|power]] and [[national interest]]s, or changes to those distributions, are fundamental causes of [[war]] and of system stability.{{sfn|Lemke|2008}}{{Additional citation needed|date=August 2023}}

The concept of power politics provides a way of understanding systems of international relations: in this view, [[Sovereign state|states]] compete for the world's limited [[resource]]s, and it is to an individual state's advantage to be manifestly able to harm others. Power politics prioritizes national self-interest over the interests of other nations or the [[international community]], and thus may include threatening one another with [[military]], [[Economics|economic]], or [[Politics|political]] aggression to protect one nation's own interest.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

== Techniques ==
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2024}}
Techniques of power politics include:

* [[Deterrence theory]], in which a weaker state deters attack by bolstering its defensive capabilities enough to render attacking infeasible
* Conspicuous [[weapons development]] (including [[nuclear warfare|nuclear]] development)
* [[Pre-emptive strike]]s
* [[Blackmail]]
* [[Assassination]] of foreign political or military leaders
* The massing of military units on a border, whether for stationing or for [[military exercise|exercises]]
* The imposition of [[tariff]]s or [[economic sanction]]s (possibly to initiate a [[trade war]])
* [[Proxy war]]fare
* [[Bait and bleed]] and "bloodletting" tactics
* [[balancing in international relations|Hard]] and [[soft balancing]]
* [[Buck passing#In international relations|Buck-passing]], in which a state attempts to coerce another state to confront a threat, in order to preserve its own capabilities and possibly intervene later
* The use of [[espionage]] to subvert another state's capabilities from within
* [[Covert operation|Covert]] and [[clandestine operation|clandestine]] military operations, in which states obscure their role in an operation or conduct the operation in secret, respectively
* [[Shock and awe]], in which a state uses a real (or played-up) [[show of force]] to deter potential attack
* [[Asymmetric warfare]], in which a state uses unconventional warfare methods in order to exploit another's weaknesses
* [[Propaganda]], in which a state or its agencies use adverse inaccurate information to weaken another's reputation.

=== Machtpolitik ===
The German version is ''Machtpolitik''. It celebrates the idea of conflict between nations as a means of asserting the national will and strengthening the state. This idea is somewhat related to "[[Realpolitik]]", but it specifically acknowledges that the German Empire was established through the use of force by the Prussian military and [[Otto von Bismarck]]'s diplomacy. It also reflects a romanticized view of military virtues and the belief that international conflicts have a moral purpose. For instance, [[Helmuth von Moltke the Elder]], who was instrumental in Prussia's victories over Denmark, Austria, and France, once expressed a Machtpolitik sentiment by saying that "war is a part of the divine order of the world." This concept is also linked to [[militarism]] and [[social Darwinism]].{{sfn|Ganguly|2014}}{{sfn|Wight|2002}}

== Cyclical theories of power politics ==

=== George Modelski ===

[[George Modelski]] defines global order as a 'management network centred on a lead unit and contenders for leadership, (pursuing) collective action at the global level'.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|p=8}} The system is allegedly cyclical. Each cycle is about 100 years' duration and a new hegemonic power appears each time:

# [[Portugal]] 1492–1580; in the [[Age of Discovery]]
# The [[Netherlands]] 1580–1688; beginning with the [[Eighty Years' War, 1579–1588]]
# The [[United Kingdom]] (1) 1688–1792; beginning with the wars of [[Louis XIV]]
# United Kingdom (2) 1792–1914; beginning with the [[French Revolution]] and Napoleonic wars
# The [[United States]] 1914 to (predicted) 2030; beginning with [[World War I]] and two.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|p=40}}

Each cycle has four phases;

# Global war, which a) involves almost all global powers, b) is 'characteristically naval'{{sfn|Modelski|1987|p=101}} c) is caused by a system breakdown, d) is extremely lethal, e) results in a new global leader, capable of tackling global problems.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|pp=43-46}} The war is a 'decision process' analogous to a national election.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|pp=36-37}} The [[Thirty Years War]], though lasting and destructive, was not a 'global war'.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|p=45}}
# World power, which lasts for 'about one generation'.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|p=157}} The new incumbent power 'prioritises global problems', mobilises a coalition, is decisive and innovative.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|pp=14, 83, 93}} Pre-modern communities become dependent on the hegemonic power.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|at=chapter 8}}
# Delegitimation. This phase can last for 20–27 years; the hegemonic power falters, as rival powers assert new nationalistic policies.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|pp=40, 119}}
# Deconcentration. The hegemony's problem-solving capacity declines. It yields to a [[Polarity (international relations)|multipolar]] order of warring rivals. Pre-modern communities become less dependent.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|pp=119-120, 207}} A challenger appears (successively, Spain, France, France, Germany, and the USSR){{sfn|Modelski|1987|p=40}} and a new global war ensues.

The hegemonic nations tend to have: 'insular geography'; a stable, open society; a strong economy; strategic organisation, and strong political parties. By contrast, the 'challenger' nations have: closed systems; absolute rulers; domestic instability; and continental geographic locations.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|at=p. 90, pp. 220-225, chapter 7}}

The long cycle system is repetitive, but also evolutionary. According to Modelski, it originated in about 1493 through a) the decline of Venetian naval power, b) Chinese abandonment of naval exploration, and c) discovery of sea routes to India and the Americas.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|pp=41-43, 95}} It has developed in parallel with the growth of the nation-state, political parties, command of the sea, and 'dependency of pre-modern communities'.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|at=chapters 6, 7, 8; p. 153}} The system is flawed, lacking in coherence, solidarity, and capacity to address the [[Global North and Global South|North-South divide]].{{sfn|Modelski|1987|p=201}} Modelski speculates that US deconcentration might be replaced by a power based in the 'Pacific rim' or by an explicit coalition of nations, as 'co-operation is urgently required in respect of nuclear weapons'.{{sfn|Modelski|1987|pp=41-43, 230-233}}

Modelski 'dismisses the idea that international relations are anarchic'. His research, influenced by [[Immanuel Wallerstein]], was 'measured in decades... a major achievement' says [[Peter J. Taylor]].{{sfn|Taylor|1989}}

=== Joshua S. Goldstein ===

Goldstein in 1988 posited a 'hegemony cycle' of 150 years' duration, the four hegemonic powers since 1494 being;

# Hapsburg [[Spain]], 1494–1648; ended by the [[Thirty Years War]], in which Spain itself was the 'challenger'; the [[Treaty of Westphalia]] and the beginnings of the nation-state.
# The Netherlands, 1648–1815; ended by the challenge from France of the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, the [[Treaty of Vienna (1815)|Treaty of Vienna]] and introduction of the [[Congress System]]
# Great Britain, 1815–1945; ended by Germany's challenge in two World Wars, and the postwar settlement, including the [[World Bank]], [[IMF]], [[GATT]], the [[United Nations]] and [[NATO]]
# The United States, since 1945.{{sfn|Goldstein|1988|pp=281-289}}

Goldstein suggests that US hegemony may 'at an indeterminate time' be challenged and ended by China (the 'best fit'), by western Europe, Japan, or (writing in 1988) the USSR. The situation is unstable due to the continuance of [[Machiavellianism (politics)|Machiavellian]] power politics and the deployment of nuclear weapons. The choice lies between 'global cooperation or global suicide'. Thus there may be 'an end to hegemony itself'.{{sfn|Goldstein|1988|p=347}}

Goldstein speculates that Venetian hegemony, ceded to Spain in 1494, may have begun in 1350.{{sfn|Goldstein|1988|p=285}}

== See also ==
* [[Great power]]
* [[Colonialism]]
* [[Expansionism]]
* [[Global policeman]]
* [[Imperialism]]
* [[Power (social and political)]]
* [[Power Politics (Wight book)]]
* [[Realism (international relations)]]
* [[Realpolitik]]

== References ==
{{reflist|26em}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | first=Rob | last=de Wijk | title=Power politics: How China and Russia reshape the world | publisher=Amsterdam University Press | date=2016 | url=https://www.scribd.com/document/372056133/rob-de-wijk-power-politics-how-china-and-russia-reshape-the-world-amsterdam-university-press-2016-pdf}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | last=Ganguly | first=Keya | date=15 September 2014 | chapter=Machtpolitik | pages=2224–2225 | doi=10.1002/9781118474396.wbept0631 | editor-last=Coole | editor-first=Diana | editor-last2=Ellis | editor-first2=Elisabeth | editor-last3=Ferguson | editor-first3=Kennan | title=The encyclopedia of political thought | publication-place=Chichester, UK | publisher=Wiley-Blackwell | isbn=978-1-4051-9129-6}}
* {{cite book | last=Goldstein | first=J. S. | date=1988 | title=Long cycles; Prosperity and war in the modern age | url=http://www.joshuagoldstein.com/jgcyc15.pdf}}
* [[Hans Köchler]], "The United Nations Organization and Global Power Politics: The Antagonism between Power and Law and the Future of World Order," in: ''Chinese Journal of International Law'', Vol. 5, No. 2 (2006), pp.&nbsp;323–340. [https://web.archive.org/web/20061003164045/http://chinesejil.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/5/2/323 ABSTRACT]
* {{cite journal | last1=Lemke | first1=Douglas | title=Power politics and wars without states | journal=American Journal of Political Science | date=October 2008 | volume=52 | issue=Midwest Political Science Association | pages=774–786 | jstor=25193849 | doi=10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00342.x | doi-access=free}}
* Michael Mann, ''The Sources of Social Power'', voll. 1–4, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge-New York, 1986–2012.
* [[John Mearsheimer]], ''[[The Tragedy of Great Power Politics]]''. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2001.
* {{cite book | last=Modelski | first=George | title=Long cycles in world politics | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK | year=1987 | isbn=978-1-349-09151-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDGvCwAAQBAJ}}
** {{cite journal | last=Taylor | first=Peter J. | title=Modelski. Long cycles in world politics | type=Book review | journal=Progress in Human Geography | volume=13 | issue=2 | date=1989 | issn=0309-1325 | doi=10.1177/030913258901300221 | pages=302–304}}
* [[Hans J. Morgenthau]], ''[[Scientific Man vs. Power Politics]]''. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1946.
* [[Hans J. Morgenthau]], ''[[Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace]]''. New York NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948.
* [[Geoff Mulgan]], ''Good and Bad Power'', Penguin, 2005.
* {{cite book | last=Wight | first=Martin | author-link=Martin Wight | editor-last1=Bull | editor-first1=Hedley | editor-last2=Holbraand | editor-first2=Carsten | date=2002-06-18 | orig-year=1978 | title=Power politics | publication-place=New York City | publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum]] | isbn=978-0-8264-6174-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G_LIJYMLqUMC}}
* {{cite magazine | last=Zaleznik | first=Abraham | author-link=Abraham Zaleznik | url=https://hbr.org/1970/05/power-and-politics-in-organizational-life | title=Power and Politics in Organizational Life | magazine=Harvard Business Review | date=May–June 1970}}
{{refend}}

{{International power}}

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[[Category:Political realism]]
[[Category:Power (social and political) theories]]