On the Issue of Sharp Power Technologies in the Modern World

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the sharp power concept, developed by the researchers of the National Endowment for Democracy (USA) K. Walker and J. Ludwig in the late 2010s. The authors consider the reasons for the emergence of sharp power concept that originates in political regimes of illiberal democracy, primarily in China and Russia, study the relationship between the soft power and sharp power as well as introduce their own definition of sharp power. It is obvious that the issue of sharp power in research papers presented in Western countries is closely related to politicization of soft power concept since K. Walker and J. Ludwig argue that the promotion of any other values other than Western ones cannot be carried out on the basis of soft power technologies. At the same time the authors of the article bring numerous examples when the principles of the liberal order were violated in Western countries. For this reason, the application of sharp power strategies and technologies does not depend on the nature of the political regime of the countries that apply it, but on the goals that they pursue. Therefore, the concept of sharp power receives an expanded interpretation not only as an element of foreign policy activities of illiberal countries, but also as the basis of technologies used for organizing color revolutions or as part of the domestic political struggle against narratives alternative to liberalism in Western countries. The authors conclude that sharp power technologies are introduced in cases when the soft power resources are applied to manipulate public opinion to achieve political goals, regardless of who uses these technologies.