CIA-1

Elements of National Power

Prachi Jha
2130974

Submitted to
Dr Madhumati Deshpande

BA (History, Economics. Political Science)

Department of International Studies and History
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
5st August 2023

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. National Power in International Relations 3

2. Introduction 3

3. Elements of National Power 3-4

4. Suggestion 4-5

5. Conclusion 5

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1. National Power in International Relations
National Power refers to the potentiality of a nation to impact the behaviour of the other nations with
an objective to secure national interest. It is a capacity of a nation to successfully meet its national
aims while exercising its diplomacy in international relations. The greater is the extent of national
power a country possesses the greater is the prospective of it successfully pursuing its national
interest. It can act as an effective bargain in the international arena. For example, the blockage of the
Black Sea Grain Deal by Russia is a way of Russia exerting its national power. Moreover it acts as a
counter balance against an aggressor like China putting restrictions on the export of geranium and
gallium, two elements needed for semiconductor production in order to protect its position as a
semiconductor manufacturer.

2. Introduction
The Republic of Nicaragua is located in Central America between Honduras and Costa Rica.
It is surrounded by the North Pacific Ocean in the west and the Caribbean Sea in the east. The
capital of Nicaragua is Managua.

Nicaragua has a complex past of colonialism, bloodshed, coups, wars, and unity. The present-
day Nicaragua was inhabited by the Native Americans until the Spaniards established their
hold over it. Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba completed the entire conquest of Nicaragua by
1524. Between the 17th and the 18th centuries the British at the height of their power extended
the influence over Nicaragua till it gained influence in 1821 but is made part of Mexico. In
1823 it becomes part of the United Provinces of Central America along with Costa Rica, El
Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. It finally became an independent country in 1838 (BBC,
2023).

Presently Nicaragua is a country of many extremes. It remains the poorest country in the
western hemisphere as it struggles with weakening of its democratic institutions under

President Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua - the World Factbook, n.d.).

3. Elements of National Power

Nicaragua like any other country has many aspects of national power. Nicaragua has an
advantageous geographical location. With an area of 130,370 sq. km it is the largest country
in Central America (World Bank, 2022). It has access to the water body on two sides, with
the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Caribbean Sea on the east. This makes it an attractive

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destination for trade and commerce. The nineteen volcanoes of Nicaragua due to its location
along the Pacific ring of fire allows act as hotspots for the generation of geothermal energy. It
even set a record in September 2020 after generating 33% of its energy requirements from
geothermal energy (GeoEnergy, 2020). As the world forages for renewable sources of energy
in the midst of climate change, Nicaragua will prove to be an attractive location. Nicaragua
also has abundant water resources in the form of lakes, rivers and watersheds. San Juan River
provides ample water resource to this country and as the world braces for the future ‘water
wars. ‘Nicaragua’s water resources will prove to be an important collateral. The Tropical
Climate of Nicaragua provides it a perfect location for the Arabita variety of coffee beans.
Nicaragua is the 11th largest producer of coffee in the world (World Coffee Research
Organisation, 2023). It also supplies coffee beans periodically to MNCs like Nescafe and
Starbucks.

According to the World Bank Database the population of about 6.9 million. This small
population along with its large size proves to be advantageous to Nicaragua. As the country
has a lot of social and economic problems like poverty, unemployment, civil unrest, etc. A
smaller population allows the country to better concentrate on the minute netiquettes of the
problem and to solve the problem much easily compared to country with a larger population.
Moreover, Nicaraguans median age is 27.3 and most of the population lie within the working
age. This gives Nicaragua an advantage over the other countries where the population is
aging.

Nicaragua’s GDP as of 2021 estimates stands at $38.628 billion. 20.6% of the GDP of
Nicaragua consists of remittances (World Bank, 2023). Oxfam Reports have highlighted the
macroeconomic strength these remittances bring for Nicaragua as they remain distributed
evenly across the country.

Nicaragua due to the presence of relatively friendly neighbours like Honduras and Costa Rica
spends just 0.2% of its GDP on defence (World Bank, 2021). This is advantageous as it
allows Nicaragua to focus its limited resources on sectors which require urgent attention.
Moreover, by spending less on military, Nicaragua can spend on more productive sector of
the economy like agriculture, industry, infrastructure.

4. Suggestion

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Nicaragua has a high potentiality for increasing its national power. It is a country endowed
with rich natural resources due to its tropical location. Moreover, its location amidst the
Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea provides an excellent harbour. However Nicaragua is not
utilizing its national power to its full capacity. The Nicaraguans can invest in building a canal
connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. This will bring billions of dollars as
revenue to Nicaragua and will end the monopoly of the Panama Canal. The world economies
must investigate the high probability of economic return of investing in the Nicaraguan
Canal. The lush green forests and volcanoes of Nicaragua provide an excellent tourist
destination. It generated 184.00 million US dollars in 2021 from the Tourism sector despite
the COVID 19 restrictions. However, compared to other Central American countries,
Nicaragua still has a long way to go as it ranks 8th in Central America (UNWTO, 2021).
Thus, the government must invest in the tourism sector as it has the capability of generating
periodically higher revenue for the country. Nicaragua must strengthen its democratic
institutions as it discourages foreign investors from investing in the country. Moreover, once
it strengthens its democracy, it can effectively use its diplomacy to attract foreign investors in
investing in Nicaragua. Nicaragua must also invest in improving its health and education
infrastructure as it has a low HDI score of 0.667 in 2021 compared to the world average of
0.721(UNDP, 2021). By improving its score in HDI, Nicaragua can project itself as a country
with mind-blowing health infrastructure and education facilities. It can also attract medical
tourists from the USA and Canada. Moreover, it can develop itself on the Finland Model with
excellent scores in HDI, and Happiness Index.

5. Conclusion
Nicaragua the largest country in Central America continues to lag behind the rest of the
countries in Latin America and remains the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It is
high time its leadership realizes the rich potential this land possesses. The corruption and
weakening democracy is resulting in investors fleeing its institutional markets. With 30% of
its population living in poverty (World Bank, 2023) despite being endowed with rich natural
resources is truly unfortunate.

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References

1. GeoEnergy, T. (2020, September 27). Geothermal sets new record in Nicaragua

representing 33.5% of electricity generation this month. Think GeoEnergy -
Geothermal Energy News. https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/geothermal-sets-new-
record-in-nicaragua-representing-33-5-of-electricity-generation-this-month/
2. Nicaragua country profile. (n.d.). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-
latin-america-19735631
3. Nicaragua - The World Factbook. (n.d.). Nicaragua - the World Factbook.
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nicaragua/summaries/
4. Nicaragua’s People Need a Robust International Response. (2023, July 17).
Nicaragua’s People Need a Robust International Response | Human Rights Watch.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/17/nicaraguas-people-need-robust-international-
response

5. Overview. (n.d.). World Bank.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nicaragua/overview
6. Timberline Labs LLC, L. H. (n.d.). Water Action Hub | Country: Nicaragua. Water
Action Hub | Country: Nicaragua.
https://wateractionhub.org/geos/country/159/d/nicaragua/
7. Global and regional tourism performance. (n.d.). Global and Regional Tourism
Performance. https://www.unwto.org/tourism-data/global-and-regional-tourism-
performance
8. GeoEnergy, T. (2020, September 27). Geothermal sets new record in Nicaragua
representing 33.5% of electricity generation this month. Think GeoEnergy -
Geothermal Energy News. https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/geothermal-sets-new-
record-in-nicaragua-representing-33-5-of-electricity-generation-this-month/