Power politics

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Power politics, or Machtpolitik (borrowed from German), is a state of international relations in which sovereigns protect their own interests by threatening one another with military, economic, or political aggression. The term was coined in Martin Wright's 1979 book of the same name, which the Times Literary Supplement dubbed the 21st most influential book since World War II.[1]

Power politics is essentially a way of understanding the world of international relations: nations compete for the world's resources and it is to a nation's advantage to be manifestly able to harm others. It prioritizes national self-interest over the interest of other nations or the international community.

Techniques of power politics include, but are not limited to, conspicuous nuclear development, pre-emptive strike, blackmail, the massing of military units on a border, the imposition of tariffs or economic sanctions, bait and bleed and bloodletting, hard and soft balancing, buck passing, covert operations, and asymmetric warfare.

See also

• Realism
• Realpolitik

Literature

• 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.
• 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. 323-340. ABSTRACT

External links

• Global Power Barometer

v • d • e Power in international relations Types of power Power (sociology) · Soft power · Hard power · Political power (Machtpolitik • Realpolitik) Types of power status Middle power · Regional power · Great power  · Superpower (Potential superpowers · Energy superpower) · Hyperpower Geopolitics African Century · American Century · Asian Century · British Century · Chinese Century · European Century · Indian Century · Pacific Century Theory and history Historical powers · Polarity in international relations · Power projection · Power transition theory · Second superpower · Superpower collapse · Superpower disengagement Organizations and groups G8  · G8+5 · BRI(M)C · Next Eleven · SCO · NATO · ANZUS

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