Most definitions of politics involve power. Most international interactions are political or have ramifications
for politics. Thus, it is not surprising that power has been prominent in discussions of international
interaction from Thucydides to the present day. The long history of discussions of the role of power in
international relations, however, has failed to generate much agreement. Scholars disagree not only with
respect to the role of power but also with respect to the nature of power. Hans J. Morgenthau (1964: 27n)
suggests that ‘the concept of political power poses one of the most difficult and controversial problems of
political science.’ Kenneth N. Waltz (1986: 333) notes that power is a key concept in realist theories of
international politics, while conceding that 'its proper definition remains a matter of controversy.’ And
Robert Gilpin describes the concept of power as 'one of the most troublesome in the field of international
relations' (1981: 13) and suggests that the 'number and variety of definitions should be an embarrassment
to political scientists' (1975: 24). There is, however, widespread consensus among international relations
scholars on both the necessity of addressing the role of power in international interactions and the
unsatisfactory state of knowledge about this topic (Guzzini, 2000; Barnett and Duvall, 2005; Berenskoetter
and Williams, 2007).