ABSTRACT
Power is an explanatory concept that is applied with equal facility to physical phenomena and human affairs. It is a common word in the vocabularies of most people and is used very frequently to account for the reasons behind observed events. Power is something possessed by persons and social groups. Like money, it can be employed for many different purposes. In order to understand the current status of the power idea, we must give attention to three tasks: to understand the formulation of the power interpretation of the realist school of international relations, to consider the criticisms advanced against realist interpretations, and to assess the place of power phenomena in international relations according to the new perspective. This chapter considers a series of definitions and statements about power and notes how they can be associated with the theory of the international system.
