Soft And Hard Power, Two Forms Of Control

Every relationship is based on the forms of power and takes power into account. When two people, groups or organizations come together, one will have more power than the other. This means that there is a greater probability that the weakest will end up following the line marked by the group with the most power. In other words, power becomes a form of control. But power doesn’t just happen between people. Power also influences relations between countries.

Relations between countries, studied as international relations, are based on these power dynamics. The most powerful countries are going to use their power to make other countries accept their proposals. Specifically, one of the definitions used in international relations of power conceives it as the ability to influence the behavior of others and obtain the desired results.

Two ways of control

It is often said that to gain power you have to be loved or feared. Either you have the power because everyone accepts you and believes that you deserve to have it or you have it because others are afraid of you. Obviously, they are two different ways of gaining power and each one is going to have different consequences.

When we transfer these two forms of control to international relations, we are talking about soft and hard power. Before explaining each of these forms of control, it is necessary to understand that the main objective of the countries is to increase or maintain their power, the motivation that will lead them to make use of these forms of control.

Hard power

Hard power is that found in the economic and military circles. This power consists of imposing the will out of fear. That is, to subdue another country with military or economic superiority. A good example is found in nuclear weapons, countries like Iran and North Korea threaten to produce atomic bombs to gain power.

This type of power can be implemented through military power, which can lead to wars and alliances. Thus, the threat of force would be used with the aim of intimidating and restraining. Furthermore, economic power can also be used to exercise hard power. In this way, the economy could be used as a means of help, to bribe or to sanction.

Soft power

Soft power is the ability to influence the actions or interests of other countries using only cultural and ideological means. This form of control is based on the power that resides in culture and ideas. Thus, this type of power will allow to achieve the desired objectives in an indirect way on many occasions.

This type of power is descriptive, that is, it gives information instead of ordering orders to be carried out. Thus, soft power produces attraction, it is based on others wanting what you want. In this way, democracy is desired by many countries in which their citizens feel that their freedoms are restricted.

What form of control is better?

The form of control to be exercised, soft or hard power, will depend on the possibilities you have and the objective you want to achieve.

An example is found in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, where a journalist wrote: “ While China tries to seduce and impress the world with the number of Olympic medals it has won, Russia wants to impress it by demonstrating its military superiority. The soft power of China versus the hard power of Russia: the preferences of the two countries reflect their very different degree of self-confidence ”.

Ultimately the best form of control is a combination of soft power and hard power, which has been defined as intelligent power. That is, a country should not renounce its diplomatic or military power, but it should also set an example for others to follow.