National power is defined as the sum of all resources available to a nation in the pursuit of national objectives.[1]
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National power is composed of various elements, also referred to as instruments or attributes; these may be grouped into two categories based on their applicability and origin - "national" and "social".[2]
Important facets of geography such as location (geography), climate, topography and size play a major role in the ability of a nation to acquire national power. Location has an important bearing on foreign policy of a nation. The relation between foreign policy and geographic location gave rise to the discipline of geopolitics.
The presence of a water obstacle provided protection to nation states such as Great Britain, Japan and USA and allowed Japan to follow isolationist policies. The presence of large accessible seaboards also permitted these nations to build strong navies and expand their territories peacefully or by conquest. In contrast, Poland with no obstacle to separate from its powerful neighbours even lost its independent existence as a nation being partitioned among the Kingdom of Prussia, the Russian Empire, and Austria from 1795 onwards till it regained its independence in 1918. Climate affects the productivity of Russian agriculture as the majority of the nation is located in latitudes well north of those providing ideal conditions for farming. Conversely, Russia's size permitted it to trade space for time during the Great Patriotic War.[2]
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