ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces hard and soft power as applied to national states. States continue to constitute the building blocks of the international system, and are conventionally understood to hold a legitimate monopoly over hard power as force. The chapter explores the origins of both hard and soft power, offering illustrative examples. It analyses variations on the two as well as caveats which challenge their differentiation. The chapter also introduces the idea of ‘smart’ power, also referred to as or ‘collaborative’ or contextual power, as another, more flexible lens and framework through which to analyse state power. It examines the critiques against such a binary vision, taking into account that states arguably need both hard and soft power. In international relations, however, soft power is a multifaceted tool strategically employed to garner not only goodwill but also tangible benefits for the ‘national interest’ of the state pursuing a particular agenda.
