power politics

American  

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.

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power politics British  

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of power politics

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

“The whole Brussels institutional framework, its methods, its mindset were not at all tailored” for the current period of “power politics, confrontation, highly brutal competition,” Vimont said.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From The Wall Street Journal

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.

From 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.

From Seattle Times

“The Arab people value independence, oppose external interference, stand up to power politics and high-handedness, and always seek to make progress,” Xi’s column read.

From Seattle Times