Library Index :: National Security in the United States :: An Introduction to National Security - Defining National Security, Federal Agencies And Organizations That Focus On National Security Issues, Defining Threats To National Security

An Introduction to National Security - Power And National Security

A state's power, measured in terms of its resources, largely determines its ability to fulfill its national security agenda. Since definitions of the term "power" and the metrics applied to it vary, quantifying a state's power is challenging. In Foundations of National Power (New York: Van Nostrand, 1951), Harold and Margaret Sprout posited that a nation's power can be measured roughly by using the following equation:

National Power = human resources + physical habitat + foodstuffs and raw materials + tools and skills + organization + morale and political behavior + external conditions and circumstances.

Nation-states (a term used to describe a relatively homogenous population or persons of common nationality who inhabit a state) apply power in order to bring about the changes in the political, social economic, or military arenas.

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