Karen_A._Mingst,_Ivan_M._Arregu_n-Toft]_Essentia

The Nature of State Power 145

While constructivists may pay little heed to materialist conceptions of power
defined in terms of oil resources, they may try to tease out how the identities of states
are forged by having such a valuable resource. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states have
developed an identity based on a seemingly limitless, valuable resource. Oil permits
them to merge that identity with their identity as Islamic states that export the faith to
other countries.
Thus, each theory holds a dif er ent view about the state. These diferences can be
seen in four topic areas: the nature of state power (What is power? What are impor­
tant sources of power?), the exercise of state power (the relative importance of dif er ent
techniques of statecraft), how foreign policy is made (the statist versus the bureau­
cratic/orga nizational or pluralist approach to decision making), and the determinants
of foreign policy (the relative importance of domestic versus international factors).

the nature of state Power

States are critical actors because they have power, which is the ability not only to influ­
ence others but also to control outcomes to produce results that would not have occurred
naturally. States have power with re spect to each other and with re spect to actors within
the state. All theoretical perspectives acknowledge the importance of power, but each
pays attention to dif er ent types of power. Realists, liberals, and radicals all conceptual­
ize power in materialist terms, realists and radicals primarily in natu ral and tangible
sources, while liberals also pay attention to intangible power sources. Constructivists
emphasize the nonmaterialist sources found in the power of ideas, one of the intangible
sources. All agree that power is multidimensional, dynamic, and situational.

The CoNSTruCTiviST view

of The STaTe

The state is:

■ a socially constructed entity

■ he repository of national interests t

that change over time

■ shaped by international norms that

change preferences

■ nfluenced by changing national i

interests that shape and reshape

identities

■ socialized by IGOs and NGOs

iN foCuS