Hello.

My name's Ms. Ikomi, and I'm a teacher from London.

I'm going to be taking you through today's lesson, so let's get started.

Today's lesson is called What Methods Can the UK Use to Tackle Global Conflict? It's part of the wider unit, How Does the International Community Respond to Global Humanitarian Problems? By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how the UK uses hard and soft power to influence global conflicts.

The keywords we're going to hear in today's lesson are hard power.

This is the ability of a state to influence other states through coercion, often using military or economic means.

The next is soft power.

This is the ability to influence others through attraction and persuasion rather than coercion or force.

And last, effective.

In this context, effective means successful in producing a desired or intended result.

Keep an eye out for these keywords as we move through today's lesson, we're going to start by thinking about what hard power does the UK use? Jacob's telling us the UK, like other countries, can influence global conflicts in different ways.

One of these methods is through hard power.

Hard power, like we saw in our keyword definition, means using military or economic force to influence other nations.

It relies on pressure, coercion or threats.

For example, invading a country or threatening to do so in order to get them to do something else.

The UK may use hard power to help achieve its foreign policy goals.

For example, through working with organisations such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, they can also freeze bank accounts or assets of citizens from other countries.

Assets are things that people own.

The UK might also impose economic sanctions such as limiting trade or financial activity with another country.

Let's do a check of what we've learned so far.

Which of the following is an example of using hard power? Is it A, deploying soldiers to the border of a country that has been unfriendly? B, supporting aid or disaster relief projects in a country or C, sending cultural ambassadors to a country to share common beliefs with a country? Pause your video and choose your answer now.

The correct answer is A.

One example of a global conflict is the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the UK and other countries imposed a range of economic sanctions on Russia.

Economic sanctions are measures that target countries' finances or their trade or travel.

They aim to limit a country's economic power by causing financial difficulties and restricting access to important goods and services.

These sanctions can apply to governments, political leaders or major businesses.

The aim is to disrupt the economy of that country to convince them to do something different to what they're currently doing.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, countries, including the UK and the US, along with EU member states and other nations, have imposed thousands of sanctions on Russia.

For example, in 2023, the US announced 500 new sanctions targeting Russia's military supply chain.

These include export restrictions on nearly a hundred companies and individuals impacting how they can trade with other nations.

The UK has banned exports of Russian metal, diamonds and energy products.

The US and UK banned Russian oil and natural gas.

The EU has sanctioned 200 groups helping Russia's war efforts.

All of these examples demonstrate how economic sanctions have sought to cause an impact on Russia's economy.

Some other example of the UK's economic sanctions include preventing some Russian individuals from travelling through the UK and its airspace, cutting off Russian banks from UK markets.

This includes stopping UK people from using Russian banks, stopping international transactions from paying into Russia and stopping luxury goods from being sold to Russian markets.

That includes things like fashion items and art.

In 2025, following Russia launching its biggest drone attack against Ukraine, the UK announced new sanctions aimed at limiting Russia's military supply chains, financial networks and information activities.

These included targeting Russia's military supply chains, sanctions on Kremlin information operations, sanctions on 46 financial institutions including the St.

Petersburg Currency Exchange and the Russian Deposit Insurance Agency and targeting 18 ships and individuals involved in oil exports through the shadow fleet.

The shadow fleet are a group of vessels that were aiming to try and get around these economic sanctions.

Let's do another check.

Which of the following is an example of an economic sanction? Is it A, buying more oil from a country to support economic partnership? B, freezing the bank account of a powerful person from the unfriendly country, or C, increasing the amount of money a country can borrow from the World Bank? Pause your video and choose your answer now.

The correct answer is B.

Let's do a longer practise task now to see what we have learned so far.

I'd like you to describe the term economic sanction.

I'd also like you to use the UK's response to the Russia-Ukraine war as a case study to help you answer this question.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

I asked you to describe the term economic sanction.

You might have included an economic sanction is a penalty or restriction that one country places on another to affect its ability to make money or keep its economy functioning.

For example, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the UK and other countries used economic sanctions.

This is an example of hard power.

One economic sanction the UK used was preventing Russian individuals from travelling through the UK and its airspace.

Economic sanctions were also made on 46 financial institutions, including the St.

Petersburg Currency Exchange.

Now we've thought about hard power, We're going to think about what soft power the UK might use.

Izzy's telling us countries have different ways that they influence others.

One way they might do this is through soft power.

We can remember from our keyword definition that soft power is the ability to influence others through attraction and persuasion rather than coercion, which are some of the methods we saw when we looked at hard power.

This action often helps to create goodwill.

The UK typically prefers to use this type of power because it's going to often have a more positive impact.

The UK is very skilled at using soft power to manage its foreign policy relationships.

This allows the UK to influence rather than force relationships with other countries.

We can see why that might often have a better outcome.

The UK uses a range of soft power strategies to influence relationships.

These include through things like education.

UK universities like Oxford and Cambridge have strong reputations around the world.

Also, international organisation.

The UK is a member of groups like the UN and the Commonwealth, which again gives them an important role on a global scale.

Let's do another check.

True or false, the UK uses its higher education institutions like universities to influence foreign policy.

The correct answer is true.

Izzy's telling us UK universities have a very strong reputation around the world.

That means citizens from other countries want to study in the UK and can offer incentives to some countries to do so.

For example, we might give bursaries, free money, to students from the EU, so this is a way that organisations can influence on a global scale.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the UK used both hard power and soft power strategies in response, one soft power strategy was working through international organisations.

The UK is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

As a permanent member, the UK has the power to veto or block Security Council decisions.

However, Russia is also a permanent member with the same veto power.

This has made it difficult for the UN to take action on this conflict.

The UK has consistently voted at the UN to support resolutions calling for peace in Ukraine and to criticise Russia's invasion.

These votes are examples of soft power.

They show other countries the UK's position and can help persuade allies to take similar actions.

This is an example of using diplomacy and influence instead of force.

However, Russia can also use use its veto power to block these resolutions from being passed, which we have seen happen.

The UK's representative at the UN is Ambassador James Kariuki.

He stated in March 2025 that the UK supports a lasting peace in Ukraine and immediate end to the violence.

He said that the UK believes Russia could end the conflict by withdrawing its troops and stopping the invasion.

By making public speeches or statements and working through international organisations, the UK is using soft power.

This type of influence is called diplomacy.

Diplomacy might include giving speeches at international meetings, hosting foreign leaders or attending global events and creating international agreements or treaties.

Diplomacy is usually carried out by world leaders or their representatives.

These representatives are known as ambassadors.

Let's do a quick check.

What do we call representatives of a government who are often involved in diplomacy? Is it A, ambassadors, B, ministers, or C, secretaries? Pause your video and choose your answer now.

The correct answer is A, ambassadors.

UK universities have also responded to the conflict in Ukraine.

Their actions are examples of the UK using soft power through education.

A range of universities have offered support such as the Open University who have offered 15 fee free courses to Ukrainian nationals, giving them an opportunity to get an education.

Ukrainian refugees are considered home students.

This means that they'll be charged home status in terms of tuition fees rather than international or overseas fees.

This makes it much more affordable again to access this education.

As well as supporting Ukrainian students, some UK universities had taken a stand against Russian institutions.

For example, the University of Cambridge ended research partnerships with Russian organisations that expressed support for the invasion of Ukraine.

This is yet another example of soft power showing how UK institutions alongside ambassadors can influence international relationships.

Let's do a check.

How might a university's actions be an example of soft power? Is it A, they might deploy soldiers to the area.

B, they might sanction a country's economy, or C, they might end research links to organisations.

Pause your video and choose your answer now.

The correct answer is C, because the other two are examples of hard power.

Let's do a longer task to put into practise how the UK uses soft power.

We're going to read source B together.

Source B says, Artem lived in Lviv.

He was studying at a Ukrainian college until 2022 when Russia invaded, he and his family were forced to leave.

When he arrived in the UK, the local university treated him as a home student and offered him a bursary to help with living costs.

At the same time, the university ended a long standing partnership and research links with a Russian university.

Using the information from source B, I'd like you to explain how soft power works.

Pause your video and have a go at this now.

I asked you to explain how soft power works.

You might have included some of the following ideas.

Soft power refers to a country's or organization's ability to influence others through attraction and cooperation rather than through coercion or force.

It often involves cultural, educational or diplomatic gestures that promote goodwill.

Soft power can be seen in source B as when Artem arrived in the UK, he was treated as a home student.

This is an example of soft power 'cause it is providing Ukrainian citizens with help and support.

Soft power can further be seen in source B as the university ended its relationship with a Russian university.

This action sends a clear message about the UK university's view on this international conflict.

Last, we're going to think about is the UK effective in tackling global conflict? We need to think about what the word effective means.

Can you think about this now? Izzy is reminding us that effective means something works well or does what it's supposed to do.

For example, a pen is effective if it writes clearly and smoothly.

In politics and in the context of humanitarian global conflicts, it's more complicated.

Some people might say that a government is effective if it improves the economy.

Others might say it's not effective if it fails to handle a crisis.

With global conflicts, it's even harder to judge.

Different people and countries have different views about what effective looks like.

Hard power is the use of force or pressure to influence other countries.

The UK uses hard power less often than other methods.

The UK is a member of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

This is a military alliance that many experts describe as one of the most successful alliances in history.

By committing troops to NATO, the UK helps to protect itself and other members.

NATO also acts as a deterrent.

This means that it discourages other countries from attacking a member because they don't want to come against the full force of all NATO members.

NATO is an example of a friendship and cooperation between countries.

What do we call this? Pause your video and choose your answer.

The correct answer is an alliance.

Between 1992 and 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina experienced a war following the breakup of Yugoslavia into smaller countries.

The war involved ethnic cleansing.

This means the targeted killing and forced removal of certain groups of people by military forces.

The scale and systematic nature of these crimes, particularly against Bosnian Muslims led many to describe them as genocide.

This is the deliberate attempt to destroy a particular group of people.

The worst example was the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995, where over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces.

NATO played a really important role in trying to end the conflict.

They protected UN peacekeeping forces by preventing Serb airstrikes.

After the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995, NATO launched Operation Deliberate Force.

This was a large scale air campaign targeting Serb military targets.

This combined with attacks by Croatian and Bosniak ground forces pressured the Serbs to stop fighting and start peace talks.

After the war ended, NATO sent troops to help keep the peace and support the demilitarisation of the region.

However, critics argue NATO acted too late.

Thousands of people died, including at Srebrenica before decisive intervention actually took place.

Sofia's asking, the UK and its NATO allies used hard power to bring about the end of the Bosnian war.

Was this effective? Aisha's saying the use of hard power was effective.

It brought an end to the genocide and stopped the war before more lives were lost.

Whilst many agree that NATO's work was effective in Bosnia, they often look at the current war in Ukraine to flag how ineffective the UK's use of hard power has been.

Since 2022, the UK launched a range of economic sanctions against Russia.

They've targeted its domestic, home, and international assets.

Despite this use of hard power, Russia continues to attack Ukraine, and as of 2025, shows little signs of stopping.

Let's do another check.

What was Operation Deliberate Force? Was it A, Aa ground offensive? B, a naval battle, or C, an air campaign? Pause your video and choose your answer.

The correct answer is C.

The UK mainly uses soft power in order to influence other countries.

This means that it uses culture, education and shared values instead of force.

One important way that the UK does this is through the Commonwealth.

This is a group of countries that share a history with the UK.

We can see a picture of the Commonwealth flag on the slide there.

The aim of the Commonwealth is to work together to promote human rights and support democracy around the world.

Improving human rights can help reduce tensions between countries and that consequently can make armed conflict less likely.

The Commonwealth has encouraged lots of member states to improve their human rights, including ending or limiting the use of capital punishment, protecting the rights of LGBT people, such as making discrimination illegal and increasing the number of countries that hold free and fair elections compared to 20 years ago.

The UK uses soft power to influence other countries in the Commonwealth.

Sofia's asking, has this been effective? Aisha is saying, yes.

More countries are embracing human rights and using free and fair elections.

Therefore, the UK's helping prevent global conflict more effectively.

However, soft power can be slow to work and doesn't always stop conflicts.

Some countries still face human rights issues and cultural influence can't prevent immediate military threats.

Let's do a check.

How has the Commonwealth improved human rights? Is it A, by providing more weapons for the army? B, boosted the economy through regular sporting events, or C, supported countries to hold free and fair elections? Pause your video and choose your answer now.

The correct answer is C.

We're going to do one final task to put into practise what we've learned today.

Hard power is the only way to resolve global conflict.

I would like you to give one argument for and one argument against this statement.

Can you include some examples and evidence from today's lesson? Pause your video and have a go at this now.

I asked you to give an argument for and against the statement that hard power is the only way to resolve global conflict.

You might have included some of the following in your answer.

You might have said, hard power is the most effective way to resolve global conflict, by using force, countries like the UK can force other countries to stop fighting.

Between 1992 and 1995, the Bosnian war saw a genocide occur.

NATO intervened and this brought about an end to the war.

This intervention was an example of hard power, which was effective.

However, hard power is not the only way to resolve global conflicts.

Soft power involves influencing countries and this can help to reduce tension.

The Commonwealth has improved human rights and made regions safer.

They've done this through sharing culture and working together to improve human rights.

This prevents conflicts from occurring in the first place, which could be more effective than hard power.

Today, we have been thinking about what methods can the UK use to tackle global conflict.

We have learned that hard power is the use of military force or economic pressure to influence other countries.

The UK uses hard power through actions like military alliances and economic sanctions.

For example, those imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine to protect its interests.

Soft power means influencing others through culture, education and diplomacy rather than force.

The UK relies on soft power by working with organisations such as the Commonwealth and the UN to persuade and attract international support.

Judging effectiveness can be challenging.

Whilst NATO's role in ending the Bosnian war is often viewed as successful, opinions differ on the impact of the UK's hard power actions against Russia in Ukraine.

That's the end of today's lesson, thank you for joining me.