Key Power Thinkers
Which offensive realist thinker argues that states are relentless security-maximizers whose primary goal is to achieve regional hegemony in an anarchic world?
John Mearsheimer
According to Joseph Nye, combining military coercion (hard power) with diplomatic attraction (soft power) produces what form of power?
Smart Power
Which power type best describes Western nations freezing Russian central bank assets and imposing oil price caps following the invasion?
Economic Power (Hard Power)
TSMC producing over 90% of the world's advanced microchips gives Taiwan what specific form of leverage in global politics?
Cyber power
Building artificial islands equipped with airstrips and radar equipment in the Spratly Islands is an application of what core power type?
Hard Power (Military infrastructure / Power Projection)
What is the difference between "Power With" and "Power Over" ?
Power with uses consent and power as a group while power over is coercive
When a state uses trade embargoes, economic sanctions, or foreign aid cuts to force a political concession, what power type is being deployed?
Economic Power
How would John Mearsheimer explain Russia's aggressive posture toward Ukraine's potential NATO expansion?
Through Offensive Realism: Great powers act aggressively to prevent rival power blocs from expanding into their immediate sphere of influence to ensure survival in an anarchic system.
When China conducts military drills encircling Taiwan to signal strength without engaging in open war, which thinker's power type is being projected?
Hard Power (specifically coercive deterrence / military intimidation).
China leveraging infrastructure loans under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to quiet criticism from ASEAN members regarding South China Sea claims is an example of what power mechanism?
Economic Power / Smart Power (using financial interdependence as strategic leverage).
Who defined power as relational and diffused throughout society (biopower/discourse) rather than concentrated solely in state institutions ("Power is everywhere")?
Michel Foucault
How does Cultural Power differ from Soft Power in an IB framework
Cultural power relies on the global spread of values, language, media, and lifestyle traditions. Soft Power uses these cultural assets (alongside diplomacy and political values) specifically to influence the foreign policy preferences of other actors.
President Zelensky's effective use of daily social media broadcasts and addresses to foreign parliaments to rally global public support is an application of which thinker’s power concepts?
Joseph Nye (Soft Power / Public Diplomacy) or Eric Liu (Ideas & Social Norms)
How does Taiwan use its democracy, freedom of expression, and progressive social laws (e.g., legalizing marriage equality) as a diplomatic strategy?
As Soft Power to contrast itself with mainland China's authoritarian governance and attract support from Western liberal democracies.
Apply Foucault’s theory of "Discourse and Knowledge" to China's "Nine-Dash Line" historical claim over the South China Sea.
Foucault argued that "knowledge" creates power. China constructs a historical discourse ("historical rights") to make its sovereignty claims appear natural and legitimate, attempting to override international legal frameworks like UNCLOS.
According to civic scholar Eric Liu, what are the six primary sources of power?
Physical Force, Wealth, State Action, Social Norms, Ideas, and Numbers.
Define Structural Power
The power to shape and determine the frameworks within which states, institutions, and citizens operate.
Apply Hannah Arendt’s theoretical distinction between "Power" and "Violence" to the initial Ukrainian civilian resistance in key urban centers.
Ukrainian citizens organizing collectively, building fortifications, and resisting occupied governance demonstrates Arendtian Power (people acting together in concert), whereas Russian missile strikes represent Violence (material force used when genuine political power is absent).
Apply Mary Parker Follett’s concept of "Power With" vs. "Power Over" to US–Taiwan economic integration.
China attempts "Power Over" Taiwan through military threats and political exclusion. Taiwan and the US engage in "Power With" through mutual trade initiatives, technology transfers, and shared defense agreements
Why would John Mearsheimer argue that international law (like the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling favoring the Philippines) cannot stop Chinese expansion in the South China Sea?
Because realists believe international law is subordinate to state power in an anarchic system—great powers will ignore legal rulings when national security interests are at stake.
Contrast Hannah Arendt's definition of power (power is power with, other types of power can not be called power, their are just violnence) with Antonio Gramsci's concept of cultural hegemony.
Arendt views power as collective human action acting in concert (distinct from violence). Gramsci views cultural hegemony as the ruling class using cultural institutions to make their ideology the accepted "common sense" norm.
Explain how Eric Liu's concept of "Social Norms" as a source of power aligns with Gramsci's theory of Cultural Hegemony.
Both argue that true power operates invisibly by shaping what a society considers "normal," acceptable, or common sense, making direct physical coercion unnecessary.
Analyze how NATO’s response to the war represents a Smart Power strategy.
NATO uses Hard Power (supplying heavy artillery, intelligence, and economic sanctions) alongside Soft Power (reaffirming democratic values, international law, and alliance unity) to achieve strategic goals.
Using Gramsci’s framework, explain how China uses diplomatic pressure to maintain "Cultural Hegemony" regarding the One China Principle in international organizations like the WHO and UN.
By legally isolating Taiwan and threatening economic consequences for states that recognize Taiwanese statehood, China makes the One China Principle the dominant, unchallenged "norm" of the global order.
Analyze China’s use of "Gray-Zone" tactics (coast guard water cannons, laser dazzlers, maritime militia) using Eric Liu’s sources of power.
China combines Physical Force (naval proximity) with State Action and Social Norms to alter the status quo incrementally without triggering a hard-power military response from the US or ASEAN.