Former Community – We Moved
🆕 Coached community here, for posts & feedback public community here.
Is there any blocks about projecting power?
That is, power that can be used across boundaries (in social circles). Usually one has power in one social circle (say you are the best dancer in social dancing) but that doesn't translate to another social circle (bowling). In geopolitics, the US can project power because it has many carriers, and bases in many countries. Other countries that might be very powerful too might not be able to project power (Japan, China, Germany).
I need to understand if growing a powerful social circle (a mafia :) ) would help me be protected if I change social circle to say another topic of interest or another country. This is crucial because I have to invest a lot to build one social circle full of powerful people!
That was a hell of a first question, true business card of a power-player :D.
Quote from leaderoffun on January 4, 2022, 8:49 pmIn geopolitics, the US can project power because it has many carriers, and bases in many countries. Other countries that might be very powerful too might not be able to project power (Japan, China, Germany).
Yes and no.
China projects a lot of soft-power in the countries around -and the whole world over-.
And the difference between "soft" and "hard" is quite blurred in these days where wars among superpowers are almost unthinkable.
And you can easily see that by how threatened the US feels about China: if it was all only about military power, then the US shouldn't be any more worried than a tank is worried by a knight on a horse.
Japan a bit less as it's an island and Germany a bit less as it's part of a bigger block including other developed countries.
But it's a good example because the same is true for people and social circles.
If you have super high value in one area, that often carries over in other areas of your life.
And if you reach high levels in a certain country or city, that also often helps you to do the same anywhere else.
What helps is:
- Your reputation: you can enter any new group, but if you have a good reputation, you enter already high up
- The money you grow: money talks, as they say, and it gives you power whenever you are
- Your social/power skills and the way you carry yourself: those are often clear the moment you first enter into any group or talk to anyone. And it means you never start at the bottom
- The connections among powerful people: many powerful people are connected the whole world over. It's a bit like the old aristocracy, if you move to a new country, a few intros will easily set you into the elite (Casanova entered as high-status into the power circles of the era with those intros)
There are certainly mirrors between the power dynamics in international geopolitics and interpersonal relations, but I think there are likely to be a lot of major differences too... certainly social sciences and anthropology have shown us that investment in social capital is far more important in individual human relations when compared to international relations - the latter can be pretty damn fickle... in many ways, countries actually relate too each other like small children - it's a less sophisticated set of power dynamics, in some ways at least, despite all the trappings and decorum of politics...
Relations between Russia and the 'West' also make for some interesting examples, as Putin has repeatedly out-maneuvered Western nations, depite having nothing near the same level of military or economic power... (granted, fossil fuels/gas does give him significant leverage with Germany and hence the EU)... but he's shown that he's not obeying 'the rules' as generally observed by other nations, and as a result others don't know how to strategise against him...
Quote from ZenDancer on January 5, 2022, 8:16 pmThere are certainly mirrors between the power dynamics in international geopolitics and interpersonal relations, but I think there are likely to be a lot of major differences too... certainly social sciences and anthropology have shown us that investment in social capital is far more important in individual human relations when compared to international relations - the latter can be pretty damn fickle... in many ways, countries actually relate too each other like small children - it's a less sophisticated set of power dynamics, in some ways at least, despite all the trappings and decorum of politics...
Relations between Russia and the 'West' also make for some interesting examples, as Putin has repeatedly out-maneuvered Western nations, depite having nothing near the same level of military or economic power... (granted, fossil fuels/gas does give him significant leverage with Germany and hence the EU)... but he's shown that he's not obeying 'the rules' as generally observed by other nations, and as a result others don't know how to strategise against him...
Great points, Zen.
Yeah, definitely many overlaps, as well as major differences.
One of them is decision-making and speed.
Individuals have a high degree of decision-making power and in person, things happen fast.
While for countries... It depends.
I think one of the reasons Russia outplayed "the West" is exactly that: Putin decides for Russia, and can implement quickly.
For the "West", there is no single decision-maker and things move way slower.
