Superpower
A superpower is a state with the first rank in the international system and the ability to influence events and project power on a worldwide scale; it is considered a higher level of power than a major power. It was a term applied to the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War, although it was for a short time, in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, applied to the British Empire.
Currently one superpower exists, the United States; sometimes, given the unipolar nature of the world, claimed to be a hyperpower. China and India appear to have the greatest potential, amongst all the other nations, of achieving superpower or near-superpower status within the 21st century and are often termed as emerging superpowers. The European Union has the ability to be an emerging superpower, but it is not one nation.
Origins
The term "superpower" was first used in this context in 1930, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, but did not become a primarily descriptive term for the United States and the Soviet Union until the immediate post-war years (in the 1920s the term was used to describe electrification).Template:Inote
The term in its current political meaning is relatively new and was coined in the book The Superpowers, written by William Thornton Rickert Fox, an American foreign policy professor at the Columbia University in 1943. Fox used this word to identify a new category of power able to occupy the highest status in a world in which, as the war then raging demonstrated, states could challenge and fight each other on a global scale. According to him, there were (at that moment) three states that were superpowers: the United States, the Soviet Union, and the British Empire.
The Suez Crisis made it clear that the British Empire, economically ravaged by two world wars, could no longer compete on an equal footing with the Soviet Union and the United States without sacrificing its reconstruction efforts, even while acting in concert with France and Israel. Thus, the United Kingdom became the chief ally of the United States, and the most important and most powerful ally on the American side of the Cold War.
As the majority of World War II was fought far from its national boundaries, the United States did not suffer the industrial destruction or massive civilian casualties that marked the wartime situation of the countries in Europe or Asia. During the war, the United States had built up a strong industrial and technological infrastructure that had greatly advanced its military strength into a primary position on the global stage.
Following the war, nearly all of Europe had aligned either with the United States or the Soviet Union. Despite attempts to create multinational coalitions or legislative bodies (such as the United Nations), it became increasingly clear that the United States and the Soviet Union were the dominant political and economic powers of the newly emerging Cold War, and had very different visions about what the post-war world ought to look like. This was reflected in the NATO and Warsaw Pact military alliances. These alliances implied that these two nations were part of an emerging bipolar world, in contrast with a previously multipolar world. A number of nations undertook various programs to attempt to secure their own independent "superpower" status, such as the development of nuclear weapons by the United Kingdom, France, and China, as a rite of passage for being a "world player."
The idea that the Cold War period revolved around only two nations, or even only two blocs, has been challenged by some scholars in the post-Cold War era, who have noted that the bipolar world only exists if one ignores all of the various movements and conflicts that occurred without influence from either of the two so-called superpowers. Additionally, much of the conflict between the superpowers was fought in "proxy wars", which more often than not involved issues far more complex than the standard Cold War oppositions.
After the Soviet Union disintegrated in the early 1990s, the term hyperpower began to be applied to the United States, as the sole remaining superpower of the Cold War era. This term,coined by French foreign minister Hubert Védrine in the 1990s, is controversial and the validity of classifying the United States in this way is disputed. One notable opponent to this theory, Samuel P. Huntington, rejects this theory in favour of a multipolar balance of power.
There have been attempts to stretch the term back in time. As such some consider as superpowers the Mongol Empire, Ancient Rome, and even the empire of Alexander of Macedon - this is not widespread however, and the validity of this tendency is disputed.
Criteria
Template:Inote The criteria of a superpower are not clearly defined and as a consequence they may differ between sources. The following criteria should therefore be interpreted as a non-exhaustive list of power factors that are generally associated with superpowers.
- Cultural
- Strong cultural influence, having soft power. Cultural influence implies a developed philosophy and ideology.
- Geographical
- It should have a wide land or sea area under its control. Territory allows a country to mine minerals and grow food, increasing its self-sufficiency. It is an important factor in warfare as it allows possibilities such as retreat, regrouping and reorganisation as well as placing distant radars and missile silos - even a richer country with smaller territory is more vulnerable in a military sense.
- Economic and financial
- Superior economic power is characterized by access to raw materials, volume and productivity of the domestic market, a leading position in world trade as well as global financial markets, innovation, and the ability to accumulate capital. Human space exploration may be considered one of the key defining economic characteristics of the Cold War superpowers, as this ability was a source of intense rivalry between them for decades. Space exploration represents an ability to spend in drastically wide-scale operations.
- Demographic
- A superpower should have a large and educated populace and should have highly developed infrastructure and pronounced cultural and economic ability to shape the regions around them as well as the ones under direct control.
- Military
- Pre-eminent military ability, characterized by relative invulnerability, ability to deter or cause great damage, and capacity to effectively project unified military power globally, including nuclear weapons.
- Political or ideological
- A functioning political system that is capable of mobilizing resources for world political goals and immense ideological influence.
The Cold War era
The term 'superpower' in this context was originally coined to describe the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America, which opposed each other politically and economically during the Cold War.
The Soviet Union represented the ideology of Communism, but more correctly Stalinism, and led the Warsaw Pact, known as the Eastern Bloc in the West.
The United States represented the ideology of capitalism and led NATO during the Cold War.
The Soviet Union and the United States fulfilled the superpower criteria in the following ways:
 The Soviet Union
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 The United States
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|---|---|---|
| Political | Strong system of government. Communist ideals spread influence over the globe. Had permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Strong ties with Eastern Europe and the developing world. | Strong and stable federal republic, influence over the globe. Strong companies allowed the US to exert further influence over capitalist nations. Permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Strong ties with Western Europe. |
| Geographic | Covered 22 million km², 11 time zones; was largest country in the world. Covered huge sea area, vast deposits of minerals and large farming areas. | Third largest country in the world, with an area of approximately 9.6 million km²[1]. Vast resources of minerals, large farming industry. |
| Cultural | Vast influence over neighbours, varied and rich history and culture. Wielded influence through socialist and communist governments and organizations around the world. | Huge influence over most of continent, integrated culture with Western Europe. Companies sold American culture over the world. Freedom of speech attractive to many over the world. |
| Military | The largest army the world has ever seen. Sizeable air force, imposing navy. Largest nuclear arsenal in the world, the largest territory in the world with an abundance of strategic resources, and the capability to develop advanced military and space technologies. | Bases all over the world, second largest stocks of nuclear weapons not only stationed on own soil, but also in Europe. Technologically advanced army. |
| Space technology | Only two countries to participate in human space exploration and to build space stations in the 20th century, with pre-eminence in robotic exploration and satellite technology. | |
| Economic | Was the largest centrally directed economy in the world. At one point, produced 20% of the world's industrial output | Largest capitalist economy in the world. Very strong currency, the US dollar. |
| Demographic | Had a population of 293 million. | Population of approximately 280 million. |
Superpowers today
The post-cold war world is considered a unipolar world, as the United States is the world's sole remaining superpower, with the largest economic and military capabilities. Russia, however, as the legal successor state to the Soviet Union, also retains certain aspects of a superpower (e.g. large nuclear arsenal, the largest territory in the world with an abundance of strategic resources, and the capability to develop advanced military and space technologies).
Some analysts think the hegemonic stability theory explains the current evolution in international relations. Hegemonic states tend to overstretch their power, and new rivals will become gradually more powerful, eventually replacing or counterbalancing the weakened hegemony. Some believe this is actually happening at the moment. Other powers could possibly benefit from this decline, eventually overtaking the United States' leading position.
A possible signal that a multipolar world is emerging is the rising of China, India and the European Union, each with a great economic and political potential.
The United States
Only the United States currently fulfills the criteria of a superpower. Because of this, it may be called a hyperpower [2], although this is disputed [3].
- The United States is the third largest country, after Russia and Canada, covering 16.5% of the world's surface.
- It has a large, though relatively slowly-growing population of almost 300 million, about 5% of the world's population.
- It has a high Human Development Index, according to UN.PDF.
- It is a stable two-party democratic republic.
- It contributes around 22% of the United Nations budget, and is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (with veto power).
- Its stance on world issues is supported by other nations, especially the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Israel.
- It is the dominant global influence in economic, political, cultural, military, scientific and technological affairs.
Economic and financial factors
- The United States is the world's largest national economy and has nearly 30% of the global market exchange rate GDP. It is characterized by moderate to high economic growth.
- The infrastructure of the United States is well-planned and highly developed.
- It is headquarters for many global corporations and financial institutions.
- It holds a key role in many fields such as new materials, electronics and telecommunications, information technology, aerospace, energy, nanotechnology, biotechnology, medicine, bioinformatics, chemical engineering, and software.
- It has the largest capital markets in the world, [4] and is the largest debtor nation, owing more than USD 9 trillion in 2005, a debt growing at the rate of USD 3 billion per working day. [5]
- The country is key producer in the areas of agriculture and commodities [6] PDF, although it is dependent on petroleum imports.
- It has a decisive influence on financial international bodies such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and the American dollar is the most important reserve and convertible currency in the world.
- The US spends more on its military than the next twelve countries combined. It has the second largest nuclear arsenal (after Russia) and combines some of the world's most technologically advanced weapons systems with the expeditionary capability to project military power to any point in the world; although it continues to struggle to subdue radical islamic militants in the middle east and irregular insurgents in Iraq three years after invading the country.
Space technology factor
- The United States continues to operate and develop advanced space technologies. It operates the Space Shuttle (currently grounded, planning to return to flight in July 2006) and is planning the Crew Exploration Vehicle to explore the Moon and Mars. It is one of the two principal builders of the International Space Station. The two Mars Exploration Rovers have been exploring the surface of Mars since January 2004.
- American culture is influential worldwide, especially in the English-speaking world (soft power).
Emerging superpowers
| File:Superpower2.png | |
China European Union European Union candidate countries India
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China, the European Union and India are referred to in many media sources as having the potential to become superpowers. Template:Inote
China
- Main Article: People's Republic of China as an emerging superpower
The People's Republic of China is currently the world's fourth largest economy in terms of market exchange rates and the second largest economy in terms of real GDP (PPP) and is considered a rising superpower due to its large, stable and highly productive population, its rapidly growing economy which has an annual growth rate of 9.2%, and its rapidly growing military spending and capabilities. China's armed forces are the biggest in the world, it possesses a few hundred active nuclear weapons, and is the third nation to be capable of sending humans into space. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto power. From the end of the 1970s to 2004, China had moved 300 million people out of poverty and quadrupled the average Chinese person's income[7], the incidence of poverty dropping from 30.7 percent to 3.1 percent. The strong and economically influential Chinese diaspora around the world, especially in South East Asia, is also a key factor in China's status as emerging superpower.[8]
European Union
- Main Article: European Union as an emerging superpower
The European Union contains the former colonial powers of the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Portugal, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Denmark and Belgium, along with 16 other countries. If considered as a full unit, the EU can be considered a superpower. It is currently argued that the European Union is too politically and culturally fragmented to be considered as a single unit, especially since two of the principal levers of power - foreign policy and defence - are exercised principally by member states. It has the largest economy in the world, if counted as a single bloc. Two of its members, the United Kingdom and France, are permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto power. The UK and France currently have a nuclear deterrent and there are few technological constraints preventing other members of the EU from joining them. Several European countries are also actively engaging in the new space race.
India
- Main article: India as an emerging superpower
The Republic of India is currently the world's twelfth largest economy in terms of market exchange rates and the fourth largest economy in terms of real GDP (PPP) with an annual growth rate of 8.1%. It is considered as a possible future superpower because it has a growing skilled workforce and one of the fastest growing economies (especially in the service sector and software industry). India is a proven space power having launched its own satellites into space aboard its own rockets. India is also planning an unmanned mission to the moon named Chandrayaan-1[9]. India possesses an unknown number (probably several tens) of nuclear weapons and maintains the world's second largest armed forces. India has recently signed a civilian nuclear deal with the US that provides a source of energy that India needs for sustained growth. India currently has an expanding IT industry that rivals the best in the world.
See also