Power and foreign policy in the United States. History Essay (Essay Sample)

Power and Foreign Policy of the United States
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Power as a concept
Power has been a topic of discussion since the times of King Saul and David in the Bible. The dictionary defines power as an ability to perform an action, which produces an effect. In history and government, power is yet to settle for one specific definition. According to Pittacus (640-648 B.C.E.), power is what “a man decides to do power”. Lord Acton famously wrote, “power tend to corrupt: absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Several authors and leaders have shed on this definition. One definition, for instance is that power is a state of affairs held by a government in a certain situation (Nye, 2017). According to this definition, the relationship between two nations is determined by their actions and reactions. If a nation X carries out an action A that nation Y doesn’t stand for, nation Y retaliates with action B, which affects the relationship between the two nations.
According to Arendt (1970), power is property of a group and doesn’t change ownership for as long as the group is unbroken. In his view, power doesn’t belong to an individual. Similarly, the concept of power in terms of social classes was explored by Karl Max. He argued that power belongs to social classes and social systems; it is not property of an individual. Also, power is in dominating social classes, influencing relations of production (Nye, 2017).
Definition of power was reviewed by Talcott Parsons who argues that power lies in a social system’s ability to direct resources and human resource with the aim of accomplishing a certain objective. This definition ignores the hierarchical structure of power. Also, it assumes that shareholders hold the same beliefs and act unanimously. Parsons assumed that power is legitimate and is exercised on subjects through coercion. According to Lyon (2019), power is the ability of an actor; which in this case refers to an individual or a group, to influence others.