Measuring National Power

Abstract : At the dawn of the 21st century, the concept of power is more important than ever and also more debated. How to measure the power of the United States fundamental to the major debates over American foreign policy. If, as the globe's unipolar power, the United States has power beyond precedent, then its foreign policy problem is simplified, because friends and allies will have to follow it whether they like it or not and would-be adversaries will be cowed by the prospect of that power. If, on the other hand, that power is less than sometimes assumed or less usable than hoped, the United States may face the prospect that erstwhile allies and friends will, almost as a law of physics, want to see it taken down a peg. They will, if not balance against it, then at least sit on the fence in circumstances like Iraq. They will be inclined to view the United States' travails with a certain Schadenfreude, happy to see its dominant power reduced to a more normal size but prepared to stand with the United States if it were in serious trouble.