hard power

If we burn that trust, our hard power won't save us.

This war reminded the world, and America itself, of the enormous importance of U.S. soft power as well as hard power.

But even his administration thinks there must be some hard power too - provided by others.

Defence Secretary John Healey defended the decision, saying "hard power is now more important than soft power", despite an outcry from charities and aid groups.

“Thanks to Ronald Reagan’s determination, the work of strengthening America’s hard power was well underway when I arrived in the Senate, but since then, we’ve allowed that power to atrophy, and today, a dangerous world threatens to outpace the work of rebuilding it,” McConnell said.