Elements or
attributes of national power have
been described as ‘those qualities which distinguish the power and
capabilities of one state from another”.10 based on this, two
broad categories are delineated namely
tangible and intangible categories or element. The tangible elements, that is those that can be “assessed in
quantitative terms”, including geography,
raw materials, natural resource
endowments, population and technological know-how.
Some commendation include
political stability and military/industrial capabilities as tangible attributes of a state’s power. 11 while military
capability and industrial capacity can be subsumed within technological know –how, it would be
difficult to subject political
stability to any quantitative assessment as a tangible element
of state or national power.
Ideologies, national morale and
leadership are identified as intangible elements of national power, while it may be difficult for us
to enter upon a detailed analysis of
the various elements are highlighted above, due essentially to the fact that they have been sufficiently dealt
with in the literature,12 and
for space constraints, we must not fail to point out the fact that a close observation
of these so-called elements will only
vindicate our earlier assertion that national power is indivisible.