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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 Great power. It was a term first applied in 1943 to the Soviet Union, the United States, and the British Empire. Following World War II, the British Empire was gradually decentralised and dismantled and the Soviet Union and the United States were regarded as the only two superpowers, then engaged in the Cold War. Currently, the most common belief among mainstream journalists and in the world of academia holds that only the United States fulfills the criteria to be considered a superpower. Sometimes, given the unipolar nature of the world, it is described as 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 economic power about the same as the United States but lacks a comparable unified military. As a result some consider that despite not being politically unified, it may be either an emerging or existing superpower, depending on one's viewpoint. However, as mentioned above, mainstream journalists and most of academia holds that only the United States fills this position as superpower (or hyperpower). However, others doubt the existence of superpowers altogether, stating that today's complex global marketplace and the rising interdependency between the world's nations has made the concept of a superpower an idea of the past and that the world is now multipolar.••••••• Origins The term "superpower" was used to describe nations with greater than Great Power status as early as the 1930s, but only gained its specific meaning with regard to the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II. The term in its current political meaning was coined in the book The Superpowers, written by William Thornton Rickert Fox, an American foreign policy professor at 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 closest connected, most important and most powerful ally of the United States on the American side of the Cold War, rather than remaining a superpower in its own right. 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 blocs, or even only two nations, 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 favor of a multipolar balance of power. There have been attempts to apply the term superpower retrospectively, to a variety of past entities such as the Persian Empire, Roman Empire, and British Empire; however the validity of this tendency is disputed, therefore it is not widespread practice. Characteristics of a superpower The criteria of a superpower are not clearly defined, and as a consequence they may differ between sources, but the following elements are generally held to be significant. Military: Ability to project power around the world. In the modern world, this requires not only a strong land army (which many nations have), but also the air- and sea-lift capabilities to deploy and supply that military in furtherance of national interests, as well as public support for doing so. Cultural: Strong cultural influence, soft power. Cultural influence implies a developed philosophy and ideology. Geographical: 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 reorganization, as well as placing distant radars and missile silos - even a richer country with smaller territory is more vulnerable in a military sense. The Cold War era
Superpowers today
The United States
European Union controversy • - as it would be if the qualities of its member states are combined - and conversely there are many who do not hold such beliefs.• .">economy of the European Union member states, if combined, is the strongest power in the world and gives the EU considerable political power. One may also believe that the EU is also a superpower• - as it would be if the qualities of its member states are combined - and conversely there are many who do not hold such beliefs.• . Some may also argue that the European Union is a superpower, if seen as an entity•. The EU currently features the world's largest GDP and consumer market and has considerable control over the global allocation of resources, yet 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 defense, are exercised principally by the individual member states. If considered unified, some might consider the EU a super-power. Overall the twenty-five member states also have significant cultural influences on the entire globe, with European fashion, art and food being common place in nearly every corner of the planet. France and the United Kingdom are also permanent members of the UN Security Council and have veto power. In terms of education, eight of the top fifteen ranks on the PISA were filled by EU member states with all western member states being represented among the top thirty.• Given planned force expansion, Europe will field 4 fleet aircaft carriers as well as more than half a dozen smaller escort carriers and numerous surface warships by 2015. The EU is composed of many developed countries; by contrast, India and China who are politically unified but still lack some economic, political, military, and social development. The European Union contains several current great powers - the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy - along with 21 other countries. Also, the EU even seems to have developed a sphere of influence of close geographical nations, which was typical of the United States and Soviet Union in the Cold War.• Examples include candidate nations, EFTA members outside of the Union, and former colonies, specially in Africa.The EU plays the role of a normative hegemon *,it reverses the traditional balance of power,in the sense that states are not trying to counter-balance it,but they want to join it. It is argued by commentators that full political integration is not required for the European Union to wield international influence, that its apparent weaknesses constitutes its real strengths (as of its low profile diplomacy and the opsetion of the rule of law•) and that the EU represents a new and potentially more successful type,of international actor than traditional ones*. However it is uncertain if the effectiveness of such an influence would be equal to that of a politically integrated superpower (e.g. United States) for comparision. Much of the debate seems to stem from the EU being a sui generis entity. Structure of the EU On December 16, 2004, The World Factbook, a publication of the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) added an entry for the European Union.• According to the CIA, the European Union was added because the EU "continues to accrue more nation-like characteristics for itself". Their reasoning was explained in this small statement in the introduction: Emerging superpowers Peoples Republic of China The People's Republic of China is often considered an emerging superpower •. Excluding economic data from Hong Kong and Macau, Mainland China is currently the world's second largest economy in terms of real GDP (PPP) and the fourth largest economy in terms of nominal GDP (market exchange rates) and is considered an emerging superpower due to its large population and extremely rapid economic expansion with an annual growth rate of 9.9%. With the world's largest armed forces, China is currently one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Republic of India The Republic of India is currently the world's fourth largest economy in terms of real GDP (PPP) and the tenth largest economy in terms of nominal GDP (market exchange rates), with an annual growth rate of 8.1% . It is considered as a possible future superpower because it has a growing skilled workforce (particularly in the service sector and IT industry), a young population, and the second fastest growing major economy. It has a well trained military coming with the world's fourth largest air force and a naval force which is long considered having "blue water" capabilities. . With India's democratic institutions, it is seen as a slow, but a stable long term growth story. | |||||||||||||
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