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Neorealism’s emphasis on the system as a determinant of foreign policy remains;but events and perceptions at the unit-level condition the responses of states toexternal stimuli:Specifically, [neoclassical realism] seeks to explain why, how, and under whatconditions the internal characteristics of states – the extractive and mobilizationcapacity of politico-military institutions, the influence of domestic societal actorsand interest groups, the degree of state autonomy from society, and the level ofelite or societal cohesion – intervene between the leaders’ assessment ofinternational threats and opportunities and the actual diplomatic, military, andforeign economic policies those leaders pursue. 176State power is thus hard power, or brute national power – the sum of a state’s military,economic and social capabilities as traditionally considered by neorealists –mediated by domestic forces. Taliaferro defines state power as “the relative abilityof the state to extract or mobilize resources from domestic society as determined bythe institutions of the state, as well as by nationalism and ideology”. 177 With Zakaria,it is noted that,Although classical realism correctly focuses on the nation-state as the principalactor in world politics, it inadvertently obscures an important distinction.Statesmen, not nations, confront the international system, and they have access toonly that fraction of national power that the state apparatus can extract for its purposes.Therefore, according to the hypothesis of … state-centred realism, statesmen willexpand the nation’s political interests abroad when they perceive a relative increasein state power, not national power. 178Implicit in the neoclassical realist approach is the idea that state power is contingent.This prompts the questions: what produces and conditions state power? Is it basedon material capabilities, such as a large economy or military? Which social forcesand relationships affect the projection of state power? As noted by Mastanduno, etal,The sources of national power are many – political, economic, military. The abilityto project this power abroad hinges in important respects on the deftness of the stateofficials in cultivating public opinion, educating the citizenry, and bolstering the authority ofgovernment institutions. 179176 Ibid., 4.177 Taliaferro, “State Building for Future Wars”, 467.178 Zakaria, From Wealth to Power, 35. Emphasis added.179 Mastanduno et al., “Towards a Realist Theory of State Action”, 460.92