Statecraft Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Simply put, statecraft is the art of conducting state affairs, which may be either domestic or foreign. Statecraft is generally defined in two ways. The first definition views statecraft as the science of government that focuses on the institutions and instruments of power. The second is that it is the application of political understanding as the art of governing or ruling. This definition points to the skills used to apply power to political goals.

Statecraft is associated with statesmanship, skillful management, and effective leadership of public affairs to achieve political goals. It requires the definition of policy goals, the use of sound political judgment to select the means for achieving these goals, and valid arguments for the state’s actions that will persuade people to follow. When statecraft is skillfully conducted, the affairs of state are achieved at acceptable costs; however, poorly conducted statecraft fails to achieve its goals. Failure in statecraft can be very expensive, causing numerous deaths, the destruction of property, or the death of the regime and its leaders.

The political skills used in statecraft are numerous and include everything from the ruler’s voice and demeanor to the ability to effectively enlist and lead others. The development, acquisition and exercise of power toward specifically defined goals are an essential part of statecraft.

Statecraft has been the subject of literary works produced in ancient China, ancient Greece and elsewhere. Aristotle discusses the arts of power in Politics, Plutarch describes statecraft in “Precepts of Statecraft,” and Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince offers advice on how to rule effectively even if moral principles are violated. Desiderius Erasmus’s The Education of a Christian Prince seeks to teach the young prince how to rule effectively without losing his soul.

Modern Exercise Of Statecraft

Since the advent of modern diplomacy, statecraft often has been associated with diplomacy. However, it is more than diplomacy, which practices the arts of peace, especially negotiations, because statecraft also involves the use of military power to achieve its goals. It is conducted not only through diplomacy, but also through psychological, economic, and military channels. Regardless of the channels it uses, effective statecraft must be formulated and conducted through intelligence. The work of intelligence agents and agencies that produce quality intelligence products or the safeguarding of state secrets by counter intelligence agencies is vital to good statecraft.

Defensive statecraft is more than applying force—military organizations create communities that are complex instruments for use in statecraft. To be effective, military statecraft must use psychology and any other means possible to defeat an enemy before a shot is fired. Simply displaying the military might of a nation on holidays or naval voyages creates images that make others respectful of the power of the state.

Economic statecraft is similar to foreign economic policy but is distinguished from it by the fact that economic statecraft seeks to achieve goals that may or may not be economic, and in the modern world, these goals are focused on trade. Closely related to economic statecraft is financial statecraft. Since the development of a global economy, the flows of trade, securities, and money have made it an important state interest to exercise some supervision of banks and other markets. Control of gold and silver mines or trade sources was an ancient concern that now has its modern counterpart in financial statecraft.

The psychological element in statecraft is extremely important. Power is exercised by an ego to gain compliance from an alter ego whether singular or collective. If the ego uses persuasion, effective willing compliance can be gained from the alter ego. However, if not, the threat of force or of unwholesome consequences also can be effective in gaining compliance. To gain psychological perceptions evoking awe in their alter egos, kings and other rulers have manipulated symbols to create an image of power that is spiritual as well as material. In the age of mass media, statecraft uses stagecraft to create the image of the ruler held by the masses or by alter egos.

Part of the psychological aspects of statecraft is viewed as soul craft, the power of a state to shape the moral beliefs, political attitudes, and practices of its people. Laws against racial or other forms of discrimination can be used along with other means of power to shape the character of nations or their people.

Bibliography:

Anderson, Charles W. Statecraft: An Introduction to Political Choice and Judgment. New York:Wiley, 1977.
Codevilla, Angelo. Informing Statecraft: Intelligence for a New Century. New York: Free Press, 1992.
Freeman, Charles W., Jr. Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy. Washington, D.C.: USIP Press, 1997.
Ross, Dennis. Statecraft and How to Restore America’s Standing in the World. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2007.
Steil, Benn, and Robert E. Litan. Financial Statecraft: The Role of Financial Markets in American Foreign Policy. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2006.
Will, George F. Statecraft as Soulcraft: What Government Does. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983.

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