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Notes -
I think "power" is overbroad. When we talk about power in a grand society context, it's kind of like talking about money in an economic context! We can distill some principles from smaller examples, and even identify some broad rules, but at the end of the day, just like economics, we aren't exactly sure if the model is correct. There are a number of different schools of thought, many considered legitimate, and many contradictory. Unfortunately, the problem is of sufficient complexity that being entirely sure about it is hard, if not impossible. So in many ways, "macro power" has to have a similar treatment and caveats as economics.
If we're talking smaller groups of individuals interacting, or even one or at most two organizations, things are a lot more easy and fruitful to work through. Interpersonal power is probably distilled in a half dozen key aspects (one example) Even some trickier questions can still be answered and thought through productively, like: "you're the CEO of a midsize company, how do you wield your own power and where do you take no action?" A complicated question that involves both the mechanics of power, organizational behavior, and moral questions. It's answerable I think, with some good effort, and can yield some useful and intellectually interesting conclusions. But it seems you're wondering more about broader forces. To which I think the best we can do is to carefully and thoughtfully study history itself, rather than spend time explicitly philosophizing.
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