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An emerging superpower or potential superpower is a country showing the potential to become a superpower in the foreseeable future.
The United States is conventionally regarded as the world's only superpower — a term used to describe a state with a significant worldwide influence and power among others. Some have even termed it a hyperpower. But much depends on how we understand the characteristics of a superpower; claims that the US is the sole superpower rest largely on its dominating military force and budget. However, it has been argued that - in the new era of globalization - military force may not be as effective as it once was, and that the superpowers of the future will base their influence more on soft power, economic power, and diplomacy. And while one school of thought argues that the US has no peer in the realm of international relations, another argues that declining political credibility in the wake of controversies over Iraq and the War on Terrorism have undermined American global power. In the last few years, two emerging nations — China and India — and a supranational entity — the European Union — are increasingly spoken of, in many media sources and by many scholars, as having the potential to be superpowers.
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