Force: Diplomacy or Hard power?

Where the library sits on this axis

The 112 written profiles are each stored with one value for this axis, written by hand. These are the ones furthest toward either end, and the ones closest to the middle.

These are editorial readings of the positions, not measurements of any party, movement or voter, and every vector is open to disagreement. Every profile, all three sets →

The statements that measure this axis

The question bank holds 10 statements for force: 5 coded so that agreement counts toward Hard power, and 5 coded the other way, toward Diplomacy. The Short version draws 3 of them, Standard 5 and Deep 10.

• “Military strength is the most reliable guarantee of peace.” agreeing counts toward Hard power
• “Sanctions and patient negotiation resolve more conflicts than soldiers do.” agreeing counts toward Diplomacy
• “Defence budgets should rise when rivals are rearming.” agreeing counts toward Hard power
• “Armies are a poor instrument for building a stable international order.” agreeing counts toward Diplomacy
• “Alliances are worth little unless members are willing to fight.” agreeing counts toward Hard power
• “Peacekeeping missions and development aid prevent more wars than deterrence does.” agreeing counts toward Diplomacy
• “Waiting for diplomacy while an aggressor gains ground is a costly mistake.” agreeing counts toward Hard power
• “Compulsory military service is an unjustified limit on personal freedom.” agreeing counts toward Diplomacy
• “Nuclear deterrence has kept the great powers from open war.” agreeing counts toward Hard power
• “Military ceremony teaches the wrong lessons to a democracy.” agreeing counts toward Diplomacy

How this axis is scored

Each statement is answered on a five-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. On this axis, 5 statements count agreement toward Hard power and 5 count it toward Diplomacy, so a run where you agree with everything does not drift to one end.

The two directions are averaged separately and then weighted equally, and the result is reported between −100 and +100: negative toward Diplomacy, positive toward Hard power. A statement you skip is not counted on this axis at all, so skipping never moves the score. Anything inside ±12 is recorded as centred rather than as a lean.

The same twelve values are what your result is matched against. How scoring works, in full →