Hard power

Hard power is the use of military and economic means to influence the behavior or interests of other political bodies. This form of political power is often aggressive (coercion), and is most effective when imposed by one political body upon another of lesser military and/or economic power. Hard power contrasts with soft power, which comes from diplomacy, culture and history.

According to Joseph Nye, the term is “the ability to use the carrots and sticks of economic and military might to make others follow your will.” Here, “carrots” are inducements such as the reduction of trade barriers, the offer of an alliance or the promise of military protection. On the other hand, “sticks” are threats including the use of coercive diplomacy, the threat of military intervention, or the implementation of economic sanctions. Ernest Wilson describes it as the capacity to coerce “another to act in ways in which that entity would not have acted otherwise.”

While the existence of hard power has a long history, the term itself arose when Joseph Nye coined soft power as a new and different form of power in a sovereign state's foreign policy.

The term hard power describes a nation or political body’s ability to use economic incentives or military strength to influence other actors’ behaviors. It relies on a measure of power propounded by the realist school in international relations theory. In the realist school, power is linked with the possession of certain tangible resources, including population, territory, natural resources, economic and military strength, among others. Hard power is defined by the use of such resources to spur the behavior of other entities.

Hard power lies at the command Hegemon end of the spectrum of behaviors and describes a nation's ability to coerce or induce another nation to perform a course of action. This can be done through military power which consists of coercive diplomacy, war, and alliance using threats and force with the aim of coercion, deterrence, and protection. Alternatively economic power which relies on aid, bribes and economic sanctions can be used in order to induce and coerce.

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