The QCD Potential at O(1/m)

Within an effective field theory framework, we obtain an expression for thenext-to-leading term in the 1/m expansion of the singlet $Q{\bar Q}$ QCDpotential in terms of Wilson loops, which holds beyond perturbation theory. Weexplicitly evaluate this expression at one loop and compare the outcome withthe existing perturbative results. The ambiguities in the definition of the QCDpotential beyond leading order in 1/m are briefly discussed. On general groundswe show that for quenched QED and fully Abelian-like models the 1/mcontribution exactly vanishes.