power politics

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. political action characterized by the exercise or pursuit of power as a means of coercion.

2. international diplomacy based on the use or threatened use of military or economic power.

power politics

noun

1. (functioning as singular) (in international affairs) the threat or use of force as an instrument of national policy

Word History and Origins

Origin of power politics¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Ukraine underwent a similar rude awakening to the nature of global power politics after it surrendered its Soviet-era nuclear weapons in the 1990s.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But these are times now of big power politics.

Read more on BBC

And the vision of brutal power politics, hegemonic power, trampling on the weak, trampling on your foes, I find very distasteful.

Read more on Salon

Slow of speech, Fiennes’ Macbeth gives us a clue as to what Hamlet might be like if he had survived and learned to play the deadly game of power politics.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Subianto bristles at international criticism over human rights and other topics, but he’s expected to keep the country’s pragmatic approach to power politics.

Read more on Seattle Times