Skip to main content

Power In The 21st Century In Geopolitics: Frédéric Encel

 Frédéric Encel, the doctor in geopolitics and author of the book The Ways of Power. Thinking geopolitics in the 21st century sheds light on all the concepts of geopolitics, the central role of the State but above all the interest of power, and presents the new “powerful” leaders of this world. 

Book: The Ways of Power

The purpose of this book is to highlight the paths that lead to power, "the criteria that characterize it, the conditions required to hope to achieve it, the capacities it confers, and the necessary understanding of its relativity". 

Overused for a long time, the notion of power regains its full meaning. Admittedly, geopolitics feeds on multidisciplinarity, but power is no longer limited to the sole use of force. This particularly interesting and documented work is written in an alert style.

The Writer’s Perspective

Was the invasion of Ukraine a historical error and can it be called a drift? No, because there are no historical errors, there are only strategic or tactical errors! 

There are only errors of appreciation and misreadings. The head of the Kremlin has certainly underestimated his adversaries and they are legion.

Political actors spend their lives gauging their own power, that of their adversaries, and especially that of their allies or supposed ones.

Because everything is arm wrestling in international relations. And any negotiation, however diplomatic, is a fight to score points, to win the bet. A peace conference is a bloodless battle and the most threatening participant is supposed to win. 

At this precise moment, and with regard to the Ukrainian conflict, it is around questions of power that the world is holding its breath. 

In this respect, we must rehabilitate the notion of prepotency and think about geopolitics in its entirety but also in its particularity. To do this, an arsenal of information is needed, namely historical resources.

Viewpoint Towards Ukraine

Encel first returns to the fundamentals, namely how the representations of a collective self will forge nations that will become powers. We become powerful by assuming our role as power, and the ways we use are diverse.

Zelensky is no longer negligible because he “dared to resist”, and yet who would have bet on him before the outbreak of the conflict? 

And even if the wars do not have a good press, there exists according to the author of the "just wars". Moreover, without necessarily using force, a state can demonstrate its power in other ways. 

Different Ways of Power

Finally, recalling that “inter-socialites” play an important role in our contemporary society, the author does not forget the new “powerful” of this world. 

From the group of States to NGOs, to international justice, to religious, political, or economic groups, everyone finds their way. 

Many have succeeded in imposing themselves such as multinationals, Gafam, religions, clans, regions, public opinion, great personalities, mafias, and terrorist groups, without forgetting the influence (possible?) of climate change or a pandemic. Could the ways and voices of power be infinite?

One Thing Is Certain

Even if the paths of power are multiple, the State remains the main actor in contemporary geopolitics and geography, a chance for some and bad luck for others.

Geopolitics: Frédéric Encel


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bangladesh Military Expresses Discontent Over Chinese Weapons; Reports 'Sub-Standard' and Faulty Parts

  Bangladesh, a traditional buyer of Chinese military equipment, has raised grievances with Beijing regarding the delivery of defective components and technical malfunctions in its imported military hardware. This issue is not unique to Bangladesh, as other nations like Myanmar have also encountered problems with Chinese fighter jets, according to an ET report. Experts in the Chinese defense industry argue that Beijing lacks the expertise to manufacture highly sophisticated military hardware and is not yet considered a top-tier producer of modern defense equipment. They claim that much of China's weapon systems are based on outdated technology copied from the West. Developing countries often opt for Chinese weapons due to their lower cost compared to similar systems from Western countries. China sells arms through state-run export organizations like the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), NORINCO, and CVIC. Sources familiar with the matter told ET that the Bangladesh mil...

UAE-India CEPA Committee inks settlement with Indian business body

 The UAE-India Cepa Committee (UICC) marked a reminder of grasping (MoU) with the Indian Office of Business (ICC) on Thursday, beginning an essential organization to reinforce monetary and exchange ties between the UAE and India. In arrangement with their separate commands, the UICC and the ICC will synergise endeavors, assets, and thoughts, and work together on expanding mindfulness inside the two nations of the critical capability of the UAE-India respective monetary association. The MoU lays out an expansive based organization between the members, zeroed in on the public advancement of the UAE-India two-sided monetary association and the UAE-India Cepa specifically. The two associations will team up on expanding mindfulness inside the UAE and India with respect to the huge capability of the reciprocal financial organization, featuring open doors for UAE and Indian organizations to use the UAE-India Cepa, and activating key UAE and Indian confidential area partners to help expand...

The Impact of Islamist Agendas on Governance and State Stability

  The current emergence of Islamist groups in Syria most especially Hayat Tahir al-Sham has raised damaging discourses concerning their goals as well as the future of Syria. One of them is their operational topping in the seizing of state institutions, which if achieved, will really alter the socio-political landscape of the Syria in a big way. New policies as the reform of the education system show how HTS tries to exercise control over institutions. The changes in curriculum proposed are eradicating all references to Assad’s regime, changing the religious material, and erasing concepts like evolution. Opponents state that these changes insert an Islamists’ attributes, which might completely eliminate Syrian secular learning legacy and make the divides in society wider. The Islamists continue with the appointment of people with extremists linkages to other strategic governmental positions, the above strategies confirm. For example, the appointment of Shadi al-Waisi, who used to be...