The current perspective on sharp power: China and Russia in the era of (dis)information

Abstract

Digital and technological development has led to the so-called ‘era of information’, which affects all fields and has increased international tension between countries like the People's Republic of China and its model based on ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’, or the Russian Federation, which makes use of cyberspace media for political purposes, as opposed to liberal democracies, especially the United States and the European Union.

With the aim of finding a way to adapt the theoretical framework of power to reality, in 2017 a new term and concept was developed within the hard and soft power spectrum: sharp power, understood as hard power that uses means typically associated to soft power, with apparently no intention to obtain power, in which a degree of discretion is a notable factor.

To address this matter, I will begin with the analysis of the growing difficulty to distinguish between the means intended to be used as hard power tools and those that are not, starting with current approaches in this complex international scenario. If liberal democracies, especially the United States and the European Union, mistakenly come close to the sharp power of China and Russia, it could have negative consequences for the modern-day world