Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Power in International Relations: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

  • Chapter
International Studies

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in International Relations Series ((PSIR))

Abstract

Power has traditionally been an extremely important notion in the study of international relations. In particular, the realist school of thought has built around it the whole theory of international relations. Hans Morgenthau (1979 [1948]) wanted to define the study of international politics through interests defined in terms of power. For Kenneth Waltz (1979), distribution of power was the key variable in determining the nature of an international system. John Mearsheimer (2001) regards power as the currency of great-power politics.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Aron, R. (1966) Peace and War: A Theory of International Relations (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company).

    Google Scholar 

  • Aron, R. (1986) ‘Macht, Power, Puissance: Democratic Prose or Demonical Poetry’ in S. Lukes (ed.) Power (Oxford: Basil Blackwell).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashley, R. (1990) ‘Imposing International Purpose: Notes on a Problematic of Governance’ in E-O. Czempiel and J. Rosenau (eds) Global Changes and Theoretical Challenges: Approaches to World Politics for 1990’s (Lexington: Lexington Books).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bachrach, P. and M.S. Baratz (1962) ‘Two Faces of Power’, American Political Science Review, 56: 641–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin, D. (1989) Paradoxes of Power (Oxford: Basil Blackwell).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ball, T. (1988) Transforming Political Discourse (Oxford: Blackwell).

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, B. (1988) The Nature of Power (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, M. and R. Duvall (2005a) ‘Power in International Politics’, International Organization 59: 39–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, M. and R. Duvall (2005b) ‘Power in Global Governance’ in M. Barnett and R. Duvall (eds) Power in Global Governance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Berenskoetter, F. (2007) ‘Thinking About Power’ in F. Berenskoetter and M. Williams (eds) Power in World Politics (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Boulding, K. (1989) Three Faces of Power (Newbury Park, CA: Sage).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1986) ‘The Forms of Capital’ in J. Richardson (ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (New York: Greenwood).

    Google Scholar 

  • Carr, E.H. (2001 [1939]) Twenty Years’ Crisis: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan).

    Google Scholar 

  • Collier, A. (1994) Critical Realism: An Introduction to Roy Bhaskar’s Philosophy (London: Verso).

    Google Scholar 

  • Connolly, W. (1983) The Terms of Political Discourse, 2nd edn (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, R. (1957) ‘The Concept of Power’, Behavioral Science, 2(3): 202–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, J.W. (2000) Threats and Promises. The Pursuit of International Influence (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowding, K. (1996) Power (Buckingham: Open University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1994) Power. Essential Works of Foucault 1954–1984, Vol. 3, J.D. Faubion (ed.) (London: Penguin Books).

    Google Scholar 

  • French, J. and B. Raven (1960) ‘The Bases of Social Power’ in D. Cartwright (ed.) Studies in Social Power (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan).

    Google Scholar 

  • Guzzini, S. (1993) ‘Structural Power: The Limits of Neorealist Power Analysis’, International Organization, 47: 443–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guzzini, S. (2005) ‘The Concept of Power: A Constructivist Analysis’, Millennium, 33: 495–521.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1984) Theory of Communicative Action, Vol. 1: Reason and the Rationalization of Society (Boston: Beacon Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ham, P. van (2010) Social Power in International Politics (London: Routledge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart, J. (1976) ‘Three Approaches to the Measurement of Power in International Relations’, International Organization, 30(2): 289–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haugaard, M. and S. Malesevic (2008) ‘Power and Culture’, Journal of Power, 1(2): 109–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hindness, B. (1996) Discourses of Power: From Hobbes to Foucault (Oxford: Basil Blackwell).

    Google Scholar 

  • Isaac, J. (1987) Power and Marxist Theory (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lake, D. (2009) Hierarchy in International Relations (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamborn, A.C. (1991) The Price of Power: Risk and Foreign Policy in Britain, France, and Germany (Boston: Unwin Hyman).

    Google Scholar 

  • Luhmann, N. (1979) Trust and Power (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lukes, S. (1974) Power: A Radical View (London: Macmillan).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lukes, S. (2005) ‘Power and the Battle for Hearts and Minds’, Millennium, 33: 477–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann, M. (1986) Sources of Social Power, Vol. 1: A History of Power from the Beginning to a.d. 1760 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mann, M. (1993) Sources of Social Power, Vol. 2: The Rise of Classes and Nation- States 1760–1914 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mearsheimer, J. (2001) The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (New York: W.W. Norton).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mattern, J.B. (2008) ‘The Concept of Power and the (Un)Discipline of International Relations’ in C. Reus-Smit and D. Snidal (eds) Oxford Handbook of International Relations (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgenthau, H. (1978 [1948]) Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace, 5th edn (New York: Alfred A. Knopf).

    Google Scholar 

  • Morriss, P. (1987) Power: A Philosophical Analysis (Manchester: Manchester University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, J. (1995) Quiet Cataclysm: Reflections on Recent Transformations of World Politics (New York: HarperCollins).

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagel, J. (1975) The Descriptive Analysis of Power (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Neumann, I. and O.J. Sending (2010) Governing the Global Polity: Practice, Mentality, Rationality (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Nye, J. (2004) Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (New York: PublicAffairs).

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson, M. (1965) The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Oppenheim, F. (1981) Political Concepts: A Reconstruction (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, T. (1963) ‘On the Concept of Power’, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 107: 232–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenau, J. (1980) The Study of Global Interdependence: Essays in the Transnationalization of Global Affairs (London: Pinter).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothgeb, J. (1993) Defining Power: Influence and Force in the Contemporary International System (New York: St. Martin’s Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, B. (1938) Power: A New Social Analysis (London: Allen and Unwin).

    Google Scholar 

  • Searle, J. (2010) Making the Social World: The Structure of Human Civilization (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Strange, S. (1988) States and Markets: An Introduction to International Political Economy (London: Pinter).

    Google Scholar 

  • Waltz, K. (1979) A Theory of International Politics (Reading, MA: Addison- Wesley).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Tuomas Forsberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tampere, Finland

    Pami Aalto (Jean Monnet Professor) (Jean Monnet Professor)

  2. University of Tampere, Finland

    Vilho Harle (Professor (emeritus) of International Relations) (Professor (emeritus) of International Relations)

  3. University of Oulu, Finland

    Sami Moisio (Professor of Geography) (Professor of Geography)

Copyright information

© 2011 Tuomas Forsberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Forsberg, T. (2011). Power in International Relations: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. In: Aalto, P., Harle, V., Moisio, S. (eds) International Studies. Palgrave Studies in International Relations Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230342934_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation