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🇫🇷French Source WordCode: FR

puissance dure

Pronunciation / Transliteration: pɥis.ɑ̃s dyʁ

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Hard power/ˈhɑːd ˌpaʊ.ər/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #14500 frequency
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🇫🇷 Example Sentence in French:

"La puissance dure reste un pilier de la stratégie géopolitique."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A coercive approach to international relations, involving the use of military and economic force to influence the behavior or interests of other political bodies.

    "The government decided to project hard power by deploying naval fleets to the disputed region."
  2. 2

    Tangible military and economic assets that can be utilized to compel compliance.

    "Economic sanctions are a primary instrument of modern hard power."
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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Coined by American political scientist Joseph Nye in the late 20th century, the term combines the adjective 'hard' (denoting force, rigidity, and severity) with the noun 'power' (derived from Latin posse, meaning 'to be able'). It emerged within international relations theory to contrast with the newly introduced concept of 'soft power'.

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