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Summary A-level Geography: Superpowers Revision notes
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SuperpowerGeographies
Superpowers
Definition
-‐ “Superpowers
are
nations,
or
groupings
of
nations
that
have
a
disproportionate
degree
of
power
compared
with
other
nations.”
-‐ “A
superpower
must
be
able
to
conduct
a
global
strategy
…
to
command
vast
economic
potential
and
influence
and
present
a
universal
ideology.”
(Prof
Paul
Dukes,
University
of
Aberdeen)
-‐ The
power
is
global
in
nature
so
that
the
sphere
of
influence
is
the
entire
world.
Characteristics
-‐ Economic
o Construction
of
infrastructure.
o Military
machinery.
o Influence
! E.g.
foreign
aid
o Organisations
! OECD
! IMF
-‐ Military
o Threaten
and
a
bargain.
o Capable
of
reaching
distant
places.
-‐ Cultural
Hegemony
(or
Ideology)
o ‘Cultural
hegemony’
coined
by
Marxist
Philosopher
Antonio
Gramsci.
! Idea
that
shared
ideas
mean
that
power
is
easily
held,
and
people
controlled.
o Shared
core
beliefs
and
values
(political
and
cultural).
! E.g.
Western
neo-‐liberal
superiority.
! E.g.
Communism
! E.g.
Imperialist
o Political
influence
through
the
media.
-‐ Political
influence
o Organisations
! E.g.
G8
and
WTO
-‐ Geographical
o Size
of
land
controlled
! Tend
to
have
more
resources.
-‐ Demographic
o Larger
workforce.
! Can
increase
through
immigration
• E.g.
UK
! Singapore
has
low
population
and
high
economic
power.
o Larger
Market
! Specialisation,
and
economies
of
scale.
-‐ Resources
, o Decrease
dependence
on
others.
! Increase
economic
development.
! Development
stunted
if
resources
owned
by
TNCs.
o E.g.
land,
fossil
fuels,
mineral
wealth
and
people.
-‐ Prestige
actions
o Going
to
space
o Hosting
sporting
events
Sustaining
power
-‐ Using
different
mechanism,
appropriate
to
the
situation.
o Hard
power
–
Tangible
power
(often
feared)
! Military
power
! Nuclear
weapons
o Middling
power
–
Negotiations.
! Aid
and
trade.
o Soft
power
–
Visible
subtle
things.
! Culture
and
ideology.
Classifications
of
Superpowers
-‐ Superpowers
o Their
power
is
primarily
economic
and
military.
! E.g.
USA
-‐ Emerging
Superpowers
o Have
growing
influence
in
terms
of
economic
and
military
power
but
has
less
of
a
cultural
influence.
! E.g.
China,
EU
(could
argue
BRICs).
-‐ Emerging
Powers
o Gaining
in
economic,
military
and
political
strength
! E.g.
India
and
Brazil
-‐ Regional
Powers
o Play
an
important
economic
and
political
role
on
their
continent
! E.g.
South
Africa,
Japan,
Gulf
states
and
Brazil.
World
superpower
level
-‐ A
uni-polar
world
is
dominated
by
one
superpower.
o E.g.
1800s
Britain
-‐ A
bi-polar
world
is
one
where
two
opposing
superpowers
exist
o E.g.
Cold
War
-‐ A
multi-polar
world
is
one
with
three
or
more
superpowers
o E.g.
Modern
World
(contentious)
Timeline
of
Super
powers
-‐ 1800-‐1918
–
British
Empire
-‐ 1918-‐
1945
–
Transition
period
-‐ 1945-‐
1990
–
USA
and
USSR
-‐ 1990-‐2010
-‐
USA
-‐ 2010…
-‐
EU,
China,
USA
,Development
Theories
Liberal
Development
theories
-‐ Modernisation
Theory
(W.W.
Rostrow
1960)
(Take-‐off
model)
o Outline
! Economic
development
is
linear,
five-‐stages
process.
! Countries
take-‐off
and
develop
when
pre-‐conditions
are
met,
such
as
transport
and
infrastructure.
! Industrialisation
follows:
creating
jobs
trade
and
consumers.
! Rostrow
reckoned
democracy,
free
trade
and
capitalism
were
required.
! Five
stages
• Traditional
society
o Subsistence,
barter,
agriculture
o E.g.
Mali
• Traditional
society
o Specialisation,
infrastructure,
surplus
o E.g.
Tunisia
• Take
off
o Industrialisation,
growing
investment,
regional
growth,
political
change
o E.g.
Thailand
• Drive
for
maturity
o Diversification,
Innovation,
Less
reliance
on
imports
investment
o E.g.
South
Korea
• High
mass
Consumption
o Consumer
based,
durable
goods,
flourish,
service
sector
becomes
dominant
o E.g.
UK
o Use
! Explains
the
dominance
of
the
USA
and
British
Empire.
o Criticisms
! Many
countries
borrowed
heavily
and
invested
in
the
preconditions
Rostrow
outlined,
but
yet
failed
to
develop.
• E.g.
African
nations.
! Suggested
that
communist
countries
couldn’t
develop
without
adopting
his
model.
! Believes
there
is
only
one
pathway
to
development.
-‐ The
Asian
Model
(The
world
bank
1993)
o Outline
! Countries
like
China,
South
Korea
and
Taiwan
have
developed
rapidly
since
1970.
! Believed
because
they
have
opened
up
to
free
trade
and
foreign
investment.
Aimed
for
export-‐driven
development.
• Rather
than
raised
tariffs,
and
tried
to
get
own
industry
to
strengthen
by
protecting
it.
! The
state
has
invested
in
education
and
skills.
, o Use
! Often
used
for
the
Four
Asian
Tigers
• South
Korea,
Taiwan,
Hong
Kong
and
Singapore.
o Criticisms
! The
model
fails
to
take
into
full
account
the
support
and
aid
provided
to
some
Asian
countries,
by
the
USA,
during
the
cold
war.
! In
the
early
years,
many
Asian
Tiger
economies
had
protectionist
not
free-‐trade
policies.
Structuralist
Development
theories
-‐ Dependency
theory
(A.G.
Frank
1967)
o Outline
! The
world
is
divided
into
north
and
south.
! The
developed
world
keeps
the
rest
of
the
world
underdeveloped
in
order
to
allow
them
to
exploit
it
for
cheap
resources.
! Aid,
debt
and
trade
patterns
continually
reinforce
this
dependency
.
! It
believes
that
modernisation
does
not
necessarily
mean
Westernisation
and
that
underdeveloped
countries
must
set
goals
of
their
own,
which
are
appropriate
to
their
own
resources,
needs
and
values.
! Exploitation
of
resources
• Resources
owned
by
other
countries
TNCs
o E.g.
Shell
and
BP
manage
oil
in
Nigeria.
o Use
! West
today,
British
empire.
o Criticisms
! Since
the
1960s
NICs
and
RICs
have
broken
out
of
the
North-‐south
divide.
• Although,
Asian
Tigers
were
aided
by
US.
! It
is
a
largely
economic
theory
(from
a
Western
perspective)
seeing
the
outcome
as
a
form
of
economic
determinism.
-‐ World
systems
theory
(I.
Wallerstein
1974)
o Outline
! The
world
is
divided
into
Core,
semi-‐periphery
and
periphery.
! Only
one
world,
connected
by
complex
networks.
• Rejects
Developmentalism.
! Semi-‐periphery
nations
are
broadly
equivalent
to
NICs
that
developed
in
the
1970s.
! Wallerstien
recognised
that
some
countries
could
develop
and
gain
power
showing
that
wealth
and
power
were
fluid
not
static.
! It
is
a
dynamic
model,
as
it
allows
for
change
to
take
place,
with
some
countries
entering
the
semi-‐periphery
and
even
emerging
to
be
part
of
the
core.
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