“The Strong do as they please, and the Weak suffer as they must.”
Thucydides wrote this in ” The History of the Peloponnesian War” and his cold-eyed observation is still valid.
In today’s modern world, power doesn’t always come in the form or armies and aircraft carriers. Power manifests itself in a variety of ways, becoming more subtle, layered, and dangerous.
It’s not enough to speak about power in military or economic terms. We need to differentiate between three distinct but overlapping forms of power, soft, hard and sharp.
These concepts of power are not just abstract ideas. These are real tools that can be used to coerce, manipulate and attract the governments and people of other countries. Governments use them to influence the decisions of others. They sometimes work together, but they also often clash.
To ask or to persuade?
Hard Power has been the power most relied upon by nations throughout history. Hard power is the ability to impose a will through economic or military pressure. Tanks, sanctions, warships, and threats are all part of hard power. Hard power is demonstrated when Russia bombards Kyiv and when the United States ships aircraft carriers across the Taiwan Strait.
It demands. It demands.
But coercion alone rarely brings lasting influence. Soft Power is the answer. Joseph Nye popularized the concept of soft power, which refers to a person’s ability to influence rather than to attract. It’s all about credibility, authenticity and cultural appeal. Consider the prestige of American Universities and the reach and influence of English-language Media. Or the appeal of Western political and legal norms, and Western culture.
Soft power is a way to persuade others by presenting a model that they want to follow.
Disinformation is a war
Soft power is losing its appeal in the current climate. It relies on moral authority and this authority is in question for governments all over the world who previously used soft power.
The United States is still a cultural giant, but it exports political instability along with prestige television. China’s attempts to cultivate soft-power through Confucius Institutes or diplomatic appeal offensives have been consistently undermined because of its authoritarian instincts.
Whether viewed fairly or unfairly, the values that were once deemed attractive are now seen as hollow or hypocritical.
The third concept is sharp Power. Sharp power is the darker mirror of soft power. The National Endowment for Democracy coined the term in 2017. It describes how authoritarian countries, in particular but not exclusively, use the openness and transparency of democracies in order to manipulate them.
Sharp power does not coerce or attract, but it deceives.
It is based on disinformation and covert influence. Cyberattacks, strategic corruption, and cyberattacks are also used. It doesn’t seek your admiration, but rather confusion, division and doubt.
The U.S. is engaged in covert operations against China, including covert interference operations.
Sharp power is the ability to influence narratives without firing a single shot or concluding a deal. Sharp power is often unnoticed, unlike hard power.
What is the best way to respond?
The fact that these powers are not clearly separated is what makes the current diplomatic landscape so challenging. These forms of power are interconnected. Belt and Road Initiative is a combination of hard-power leverage and soft-power branding. It’s quietly supported by sharp power strategies that silence critics and pressure dissent. Russia, which lacks the economic weight or cultural appeal that the U.S. and China have, has learned to use sharp power as a necessity. It uses it to destabilize the situation, distract people, and create division.
This creates an important strategic dilemma for liberal democracies. The liberal democracies still have a strong soft-power appeal and a dominant hard-power position. They are still vulnerable to sharp power and more likely to be tempted to use their own. In trying to combat manipulation by manipulation, they run the risk of destroying their own institutions and value.
The article in this series explains foreign policy terms that are commonly used, but seldom explained.
Andrew Latham has not disclosed any relevant affiliations other than their academic appointment. He does not work, consult, own or receive funding from companies or organizations that would benefit from the article.
