Power in International Relations; With Special Reference to Soft Power

Abstract

The global-political history shows that countries have always been competing amongst and against one another for power. The article briefly defines the concept of power; tries to analyze the means and their effects in shaping capacity of an actor to exercise power; and tries to access the relevance of power in international relations. Moreover, the article distinguishes soft power from hard power and goes further to analyze the aspects central to the constituting of soft power. The researcher has consulted books and journals in the related subject for the purpose of the research. The researcher’s analysis shows that, in soft power, its necessary to value other’s emotive factors rather than laying emphasis just on tangible resources that one has. The researcher has then built upon the concept of appealing notable presence as the central element in soft power, and concluded by defining soft power on the premises built in the paper itself.