Changing vertical and horizontal forms of power The power configuration in the international system is in constant flux. Nations rise and fall while new actors and new ideas emerge and others fade away. Although recognizing that power is an essentially contested concept, we ask what it means that a group, nation, or international organization possesses power to affect outcomes regarding peace and security. We also ask what kind of power is in place and which kind of power is most likely to have positive effects on peace and security. It is important to recognize that power has both a brute force component and a softer normative side. Power in its brute form has to do with military and economic power and the ability of actors to physically force their will upon others. Identifying and understanding more subtle and soft forms of power in the international realm, however, is equally important due to changes in the way security actors perceive ideas, such as sovereignty, international responsibility and democratization. These new power configurations may enable a new global security environment to emerge. A vertical axis measuring the power distribution between actors ranging from sub-state groups over nations to international organizations reveals a recent shift towards the extremes. States, the traditional locus of power and security politics, increasingly find themselves challenged or supported by either international organizations like the EU, the AU or ASEAN or by sub-state actors, like Al Qaeda and Private Military Companies. A horizontal axis that measures distribution of power between different geographical regions of the world reveals equally interesting changes. The transatlantic bond between USA and Europe is being stretched by both conflicting visions about the role of organizations, such as the EU and NATO, and by different understandings of essential ideas about international legitimacy and responsibility. Simultaneously power is being rapidly amassed in Asia and increasingly important regional organizations in Africa and Latin America. We investigate these different forms of power because understanding the changing power distribution of the international system and the shifting uses of the different forms of power is at the core of understanding how and why today’s liberal order might be in crisis. |
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