By Dr Than Lwin Tun

THE state’s power plays an important role in international relations. Every country is striving for strengthening its power. A country wields influence over international relations when its power becomes strong. The state’s power is the capacity of a country to be able to implement its local and foreign policy. The state’s power is also a combination of strengths and weaknesses in strategic military, economic, political and psychological affairs.

National power is of utmost importance in international relations. A powerful state is often in a position of wielding influence over international relations. Therefore, every country is trying to strengthen their national power. In that regard, it needs to know the definition of power. Power carries a variety of definitions. The most explicit definition of power is measuring the capability of an organization that could control the behaviour of other organizations.

To ensure a strong national power for a nation, it is necessary to combine hard power and soft power into smart power and just power. Effective and appropriate strategies and policies need to be formulated in order to implement national power.

Soft Power

Joseph Nye introduced the concept of “soft power” in the late 1980s.For Nye, power is the ability to influence the behaviour of others to get the outcomes you want. There are several ways one can achieve this: you can coerce them with threats; you can induce them with payments, or you can attract them. This soft power – getting others to want the outcomes you want.

Hard Power

In politics, hard power is the use of military and economic means to influence the behaviour or interests of other political bodies. This form of political power is often aggressive (coercion), and is most immediately effective when imposed by one political body upon another of lesser military and/or economic power. Hard power contrasts with soft power, which comes from diplomacy, culture and history.

According to Joseph Nye, hard power involves “the ability to use the carrots and sticks of economic and military might to make others follow your will”. Here, “carrots” stand for inducements such as the reduction of trade barriers, the offer of an alliance or the promise of military protection. On the other hand, “sticks” represent threats - including the use of coercive diplomacy, the threat of military intervention, or the implementation of economic sanctions. Ernest Wilson describes hard power as the capacity to coerce “another to act in ways in which that entity would not have acted otherwise”

Smart Power

Smart Power consists of Soft Power and Hard Power. It clearly recognizes that even the world’s strongest military cannot prevent deadly attacks perpetrated by non-state actors dressed in civilian clothing; it cannot halt environmental degradation and pollution causing hundreds of thousands of deaths every year; nor is it able to promote employment and prosperity. Rather, sustainable power in international affairs belongs to those states that are able and willing to contribute to the good of the international community as a whole. These are states that drive the development of clean technologies, promote economic integration and strengthen international institutions that promote global security.

Just Power

The concept of just power holds that state power needs to be employed in accordance with basic principles of justice at all times. This needs to be done not necessarily for moral reasons, but because it is the only sustainable way to promote national interests and achieve national security. By promoting justice and thus the interests of the international community as a whole, a state will be able to make its influence over others sustainable and achieve its own national interest. Consequently, it will be able to count on the support and cooperation of other states when needed. As argued in previous work, the use of military power alone will not provide lasting security if it leads to real or perceived injustices. If a state or groups within a state feel that the use of hard power by another state has left them off worse than before, opposition and disgruntlement against the perpetrator of hard power will remain, this in one form or another will come to haunt it. By pursuing justice, even the world’s most powerful state will be able to marginalize extremist ideologies directed against its dominance, as these ideologies will lose their mass appeal. The pursuit of justice is a prerequisite for long-term security.

We, altogether with 22 participants from different ministries attended the Management Course for Executive Level Officials No.9 at Civil Service Academy, Upper Myanmar (CSA-UM) from 25th April 2022 to 17th June 2022. The CSA-UM provided necessary suggestions for holistic perspectives of Administration and Management. During the training period, we submitted Strategic Power Thinking in the context of Myanmar for National Development in the 21st Century: Integrated Ideal Power as an innovative idea.

A new concept of Power-Integrated Ideal Power (IIP)

IIP is the combination of 4 powers which includes soft power, hard power, smart power and just power. In this set of combinations, smart power plus just power is the special issue of IIP.

The IIP calls for strengthening National power and security in the respective sector on a regular basis to assist with the implementation of the national development. This IIP provides power effectiveness and readiness in Myanmar and key points, in general, to be considered in envisioning the IIP strategy for national development in the 21st century.

In addition, we can apply these 4 powers as an Integrated Ideal Power in the context of Myanmar for National Development in the 21st century in line with the policies of the State Administration Council.

Ref: Group Presentation by Management Course for Executive-Level Officials No 9, Civil Service Academy (Upper Myanmar)