Per una geografia del potere. Nuovi strumenti e conflitti : il caso ucraino.

The geography of power has evolved due to the crisis of industrial capitalism (Fordism) and, more generally, of the global geopolitical system. As a consequence of the different roles of the actors (nation-state first and foremost) and the changing territories, new processes and new concepts have emerged on a global scale: in particular, soft power and hard power and their relations with new forms of conflictuality will be discussed here. Moreover, soft power has been discussed in recent decades, ever since its conceptualisation by Joseph Nye (2004), precisely in relation to international relations. Starting, therefore, from an introduction, which seeks to define soft power itself, we go on to study which criteria should be taken into consideration to estimate it, also giving examples of its past and present applications to detect its effectiveness with regard to the objectives of the individual actors in the field. Furthermore, starting from a general overview of the soft power operated by some national and international organisations, it is compared to the old hard power from an ethical point of view, identifying which legitimate interests can justify the use of power to influence other entities or institutions. The case studies examined are intended to offer a new framework for the management of international or supranational power based on the principles of the UN Charter and models of conflict resolution, discussing their validity in the reality of the current Russian-Ukrainian war.