Hegemony: Hard, Structural and Soft Power

Politics is about power. The power of military domination, economic power, political clout, and cultural superiority comes under politics itself. The term ‘Uni-power’ system is sometimes referred to as the international system dominated either by hyper-power or sole superpower. This creates a misapplication of the term ‘pole’ derived in physics. It would be more relevant to describe an international system using a single center of power by the term ‘hegemony’.

• Hegemony is a Greek term that means leadership or predominance of one single state which was originally used to indicate the preponderant position of Athens vis-à-vis which are other city-states of ancient Greece. 
• Thus, the relation, patterns, and balance of military capability between two different states can be termed hegemony
• It is because of the hegemony as military preponderance that is pertinent to the present position and role of the United States in world politics.

Hegemony as Hard Power: 

• Hegemony as hard power is the dominance of the military in the country. It is because of the large stems of formidable military power that the US holds its current power and position in world politics.
• Currently, it is almost impossible to reach the level of US military capabilities. The US spends huge expenditure on its military capability compared to the next 12 powers combined. A large amount of funds is also dedicated to military research and development. All these can be termed hegemony as hard power.
• Thus, the hegemony as hard power in military dominance of the US is not based on the fact that they spend huge expenditure on the military, but they also consider monetary support for the qualitative gap which is a technological chasm that no other power considers presently inconceivably span.
• However, after Iraq underwent invasion, there was a decline in United states hegemony as hard power in the military ecosystem.
• In the entire history, the Imperial powers of military forces have been used to accomplish four tasks namely to conquer, deter, punish, and police. 
• Considering the military capabilities, Iraq shows its invasion while the American capacity to conquer is formidable. Similarly, the US’ hegemony as hard power to deter and punish is self-evident. 
• The military capability of the US shows serious weaknesses in policing an occupied territory

Hegemony as Structural Power: 

• This part of hegemony relates to the world economy. This section states that in an open world economy, a hegemony or dominant power to support its creation and existence is required.
• The criteria for being a hegemony as structural power is, it should have the ability and desire to achieve particular rules for order and must be capable enough to uphold the global structure. 
• Hegemony usually takes the advantage of its relative detriment similar to its competitor who takes the advantage of the openness of the world economy without bearing the cost of maintaining its openness.
• In other terms, the US holding hegemony as structural power plays the role of providing global public goods.
• Public products are alluded to as merchandise devoured by a person without the aggregate sum being decreased for others. A portion of the models include: 
• Ocean paths of correspondence (SLOCs): these are normal ocean courses utilized by vendor ships. 
• Open admittance to SLOCs would not be imaginable without deregulation in an open world economy. 
• At present the multi-maritime US Navy is playing the obligation of this job to guarantee opportunity in route in the worldwide waters.
• Web is another model which is the immediate result of a US military examination project that started in 1950.
• On the off chance that we take a gander at the current circumstance, the web actually depends on a worldwide organization of satellites, a large portion of which is claimed by the US government. 
• The previously mentioned focuses as well as the US holds a colossal portion of the world economy and world exchange. 
• American firm has kept up with the situation of the “best three” list in practically every one of the areas of the world economy 
• The Bretton Woods framework, set up by the US after the Second World War, actually comprises the fundamental design of the world economy.

• Maintaining the Hegemony as Structural Power, some of the products of American hegemony are the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Trade Organization (WTO).
• Another example is the academic degree called the Masters in Business Administration (MBA). 
• The idea of this degree was proposed uniquely by Americans. The first business school in the world, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, was established in 1881. 
• The MBA courses outside the US were established after 1950 whereas in the US these courses were introduced around 1900.

Hegemony as Soft Power: 

• Hegemony as soft power is the third section of hegemony which involves the capacity to ‘manufacture consent’. In this section, hegemony implies the position/class of social, political, and particularly ideological spheres in ascending order.
• Here hegemony arises when the powerful or the dominant country of the class has the power to win the consent of dominated classes by persuading the dominated classes to view the world in a manner favorable to the ascendancy of the dominant class. 
• The behavior of the weaker countries is influenced in ways that favor the interests of the most powerful country. 
• Today, the US predominates the world not only on military grounds and economic prowess but also on cultural grounds.
• The practices, lifestyle, and success of most of the individuals and societies around the globe have been practiced by Americans since the 20th century.
• America is said to have one of the most powerful and seductive cultures on earth.
• During the Cold War, it was observed that the United States struggled to win hard power battles against the Soviet Union. It was in the area of structural power and soft power that the US scored notable victories. 
• Although the Soviet centrally planned economy provided an alternate model of internal economic organization, the world economy throughout the Cold War years remained a world capitalist economy. 
• Hence, soft power hegemony goes hand in hand and is often more effective than hard power hegemony. 

Conclusion:

• It is critical to recognise that the US military is not balanced by a single power. There are a number of tactics that can be used to combat hegemony.
• According to the Bandwagon Strategy, it is preferable to extract gains by acting within the hegemonic system rather than engaging in activities that oppose hegemonic power.
• Staying as far away from the dominating power as possible is what the Hide Strategy entails. Many examples of similar behavior can be found in China, Russia, and the European Union.
• Another belief is that non-state actors, rather than other nations, may be the source of resistance to American hegemony. Challenges to US hegemony are expected to come from a mix of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), social movements, and public opinion.