The South's strategy wasn't called ''King Cotton Diplomacy', but Cotton Diplomacy'. It referred to the South's use of its economic power, particularly its dominance in the production and export of cotton, to influence policies and diplomacy both domestically and internationally. The idea was that the dependence of foreign countries, especially Britain and France, on Southern cotton would give the South leverage in trade negotiations and could be used to pressure those countries to support the South's political causes, such as slavery.