Discuss the claim that power is the monopoly of the legitimate use of force.

Max Weber's claim, that power is the monopoly over the legitimate use of force, is, I believe, conceptually sound but morally flawed, for it implies that the base exercise of power is coercion. This essay shall seek to distinguish the two, drawing on the example of the United Kingdom's military efforts in Afghanistan, to argue that though power is a monopoly on the legitimate use of force it perhaps should not be so. Instead, I will argue that power should arise from co-operation and consent above the vague implication of threat, or the actual use of violence. This essay shall begin with a definition of the key concepts, being morality, force, violence, consent and coercion. From this, the United Kingdom's Operation Herrick (2006-2015) in Afghanistan, shall be discussed as a dichotomy between the goal of consensual governance and the reality of power enforced through violence.