Editing Hard power (section)

==History==
While the existence of hard power has a long history, the term itself arose when [[Joseph Nye]] coined ''[[soft power]]'' as a new and different form of power in a [[sovereign state]]'s foreign policy.<ref name="Kayhan Barzegar">{{cite web|author=Barzegar|first=Kayhan|date=July 10, 2008|title=Joseph Nye on Smart Power in Iran-U.S. Relations|url=https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/joseph-nye-smart-power-iran-us-relations|access-date=19 June 2021|publisher=Belfer Center}}</ref>  According to the realist school in international relations theory, power is linked with the possession of certain tangible resources, including population, territory, natural resources, economic and military strength, among others. Hard power describes a nation or political body's ability to use economic incentives or military strength to influence other actors' behaviors.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Hard power encompasses a wide range of coercive policies, such as [[coercive diplomacy]], [[economic sanctions]], [[war|military action]], and the forming of [[military alliance]]s for [[Deterrence theory|deterrence]] and mutual defense.  Hard power can be used to establish or change a state of political [[hegemony]] or [[Balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]].{{cn|date=October 2024}}  Although the term ''hard power'' generally refers to diplomacy, it can also be used to describe forms of negotiation which involve pressure or threats as leverage.{{cn|date=October 2024}}