The members of the International Poltical Science Organization (IPSA) Research Committee 36 have been studying political power for over 40 years, since the committee’s establishment in 1979. The study of power is the most interdisciplinary subject in the social sciences, having been studied in every major field within that area of research. In fact, there is no more important subject in the study of political science, as it encapsulates the very essence of the field. Power is the principal vehicle that determines who gets what, where, and when, which is the study of politics itself. As the philosopher Bertrand Russel (1938) observed, power is to politics what energy is to physics. Social scientists have been intrigued by power since the writings of the ancient Greek philosophers, who set a precedent for studying human societies and their principal characteristics. Some have lamented the state of current international relations as a period of deglobalization. Indeed, the past decade has produced outcomes that have decoupled nations: large-scale violence, COVID, the rise of far-right parties that have challenged democracy, and a growing nativism in nations have set back the course of an ascending process of globalization. Indeed, the global village is still robust in its presence, but there are troubling signs of backsliding into a more anarchistic world. The present course of events has demonstrated a tale of two paths in the manifestations of political power: on one hand, power has cemented prevailing connections, leading to a more stable world, but on the other hand, power has crystallized into a more nefarious challenge to world order. This chapter attempts to illuminate the dual path.