International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue VIII, August 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

Power and Foreign Policy: A Theoretical Approach

Mazi Mbah, C.C., Dr. Ojukwu, U.G.
Department of Political Science, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam Campus – Nigeria

Abstract: – Power and Foreign Policy: A Theoretical Approach is an inquiry into the link between power and foreign policy domain. The study was carried out relying on historical descriptive research method and the realist theoretical framework of analysis. It was discovered that right from the ancient times, in Greek City States to the Contemporary Period that power and the conduct of States Foreign Policies have been inseparable. Equally, the study found out that there are lack of scholarly agreement on appropriate theoretical perspective even among those of the same school of thought like the realist school that have appeared in different bents in foreign policy analysis. The study therefore, came to the conclusion that in all foreign policy action, small or large power plays commanding roles in their outcomes. It is the opinion of the paper that theoretical integration for foreign policy analysis within the realist school that invoke power as its tool of analysis will create a harmony for better understanding of states’ foreign policies and international behaviour.

Key words: Power, Foreign Policy, Realists, Actors, States, International Relations and International Behaviour.

I. THE THEORY OF POWER: AN INTRODUCTION

The theory of power has remained the central language of politics and political science. The concept has attracted varied definitions in political science generally and its sub-field foreign policy in particular. Hans J. Morgenthau (1956:26) defined power as man’s control over the minds and actions of other men; that by political power we refer to the mutual relations of control among the holders of public authority and between the latter and the people ar large.
Morgenthau went further to stress his definition of power by contending that political power is a psychological relation between those who exercise it and those over whom it is exercised upon; that it gives the former control over certain actions of the latter through the influence which the former exert over the latter’s mind. That influence may be exercised through orders, threats, persuasion or a combination of any of these. Morgentheu, stressed that international politics like all politics is a struggle for power, that whatever the ultimate aim of international politics, power is always the immediate aim. That statesmen and people may ultimately seek freedom, security, prosperity, or power itself.