Summary
Summary Superpowers
- Module
- Superpowers
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
A summary of the whole topic of Superpowers from class notes and using the Pearson Edexcel Year 2 Geography Textbook (2016).
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SuperpowersEQ1: What are superpowers and how have they changed over time?
7.1 Geopolitical power stems from a range of human and physical characteristics of superpowers.
a. Superpowers, emerging and regional powers can be defined using contrasting characteristics
(economic, political, military, cultural, demographic and access to natural resources).
Superpower: A nation with the ability to project its influence anywhere in the world and be a
dominant global force.
Hegemony: All power is focused on one nation.
There are 3 main types of superpowers:
- Hyperpower- Unchallenged Superpower that is dominant in all aspects of power (Britain
1850-1910 and the USA 1990-2010)
- Emerging Power- A state that is considered to be rising, in economic power and influence
(G20 countries, BRICs)
- Regional Power- can project dominating power and influence over other countries within
the continent or region. (UK, Germany, France in Europe, Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle
East, South Africa and Nigeria in Africa)
There are also 5 aspects of types of dominant superpowers that support them:
- Economic
- Military
- Cultural
- Political- if high influence in IGOs
- Resources – power economic growth and industry
Superpowers are underpinned by economic growth/power.
Characteristics of Superpowers (Emma Must Carry Pip Regularly)
1) Economic- economic power and influence (policies, investment, GDP,
currencies)
2) Military- strength and reach of military
3) Cultural- with media and internet influence due to TNCs globalisation
4) Political
5) Resources – demographic/geographic size/physical resources
However, there are factors that influence these status ‘pillars’:
Economic power/influence Widespread stable USA=
economies/currency influence
global economies and therefore China= $1
increase global dominance
Japan= $4trillion
Political Factors Essential for superpower status USA member of OECD, G20, IMF (60%
(trade partnerships, international voting influence)
, agreements, members of IGOs)
Access to resources Resources are key for economic
development and therefore
without the ability to exploit
resources, countries are less
likely to become superpowers
without the underpinning of
economic power.
Military Strength Influences hard power and US spend most globally on military
perceived strength. More ($500 billion and 800 bases)
military/defence spending=
increased threat/power.
Physical size/geographical Physical size has proven
position important with Russia, but less
so with the rise of the British
Empire.
Cultural Influence Ideology and culture spread by
media and internet, via
globalisation.
Demographic Factors Large population size means China and India, low wage large labour
large labour force to generate force shifted global economic centre of
economic growth. gravity.
The US is a hegemony and a very/if not the most powerful superpower.
Economic- $17 trillion
Military- most powerful globally with 800 global bases and spending $500 billion
Cultural- global TNCs and brands, driver of westernisation with media, film and food.
Political- member of multiple (UN, G8, WTO, IMF- 60% of voting power).
Resources- Largest coal reserves, natural shale gas for fracking, 320 million people.
Level of power that superpowers have is measured by the Superpower Index:
GDP
Total population
Nuclear Warheads
Global 500 TNCs
b. Mechanisms for maintaining power sit on a spectrum from ‘hard’ to ‘soft’ power, which vary in
their effectiveness.
Superpowers maintain and exert their power with different types:
Soft power is using the power of persuasion with attractive policies and culture. (Joseph Nye 1990)
which encourages countries to follow them. Examples could be through culture and sport.
, - Culture= Hollywood Film Industry, projects American ideologies.
- Sport= World Cup, Premier League and Olympics provide global media coverage of culture
(e.g 2012 Olympics 5 million views for Opening Ceremony in France).
However, hard power is where countries exert power through physical/military force. (In 1991
and 2003, the USA invaded Iraq, partly to secure oil supplies, Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and
Ukraine/Crimea in 2014, claiming to be protecting ethnic Russians.)
The top superpowers who use SOFT POWER:
1. France
2. UK
3. US
4. Germany
5. Canada
6. Japan
7. Switzerland
Soft power has been enforced by many European countries like France.
Macron has meant France is now the top superpower using soft power, above the US and Britain.
Due to:
Global Perception changes of the US and UK (Trump election and Brexit)
- Trump election= divisive nature has reduced respect of US e.g withdrew from Paris
Agreement.
- Brexit= EU country respect has reduced
- Trump’s drive to ‘put America first’ has meant that soft power has been undermined, by
aiming to stop immigration, changing global trade links and exploit more resources.
Wide Diplomatic Network and tied aid- member of multilateral aid and international NGOs
(Médecins Sans Frontières) and IGOs.
c. The relative importance of these characteristics and mechanisms for maintaining power has
changed over time (Mackinder’s geo-strategic location theory). (changing centre of superpower)
The relative importance of superpower characteristics (Economic, Military, Cultural, Political,
Resources) would have been linked to Mackinder’s Heartland theory, but now superpowers are
appearing outside of the Heartland due to increased dominance in a few of these characteristics
since global shift.
Originally, Mackinder’s Theory 1904 supported the idea
that Russia should be the world’s global power, the
largest country with abundant resources.
Mackinder’s Theory suggests that whoever ruled the
most strategic part of Europe would control the
Heartland who would then control Europe and Asia (the
World Island) and could control the world.
, Why was Russia the ‘most powerful’?
Energy and mineral resources- arctic oil and gas
Geographical size and location- advantageous locations of important cities and resource fields,
provides physical borders/barriers.
However, Mackinder didn’t believe it was a long-standing superpower, due to:
- Multiple borders- vulnerable in multiple directions
- Difficult access to warm water ports in frozen winter which reduces ability for resources.
Strengths (relevant today):
- Rise of other nations within Eurasian pivot, by using natural and human resources (e.g India)
- Climate Change is making Russia more powerful with access to warm water ports and
resources in the Arctic.
- Russia is relied upon from others for oil and gas.
- Russian military is strongly enforced and funded
Weaknesses (irrelevant today)
- Modern military technology (inter-continental ballistic missiles, drones, aircraft carriers,
strike aircraft) can hit deep inside another country's territory - size is no longer a protection.
- Physical resources are traded internationally; there is much less need to have them
domestically.
- War and conflict are generally seen as abnormal, whereas in the past they were accepted
ways of gaining power.
Now, the ‘heartland’ is changing.
At first it was moved with the global economic centre of gravity in the Middle East (1500s) then
towards Northern Europe and the British Industrial Revolution in the 1800s and the rise of the USA
industry in the 1900s, then back to Asia, especially China (predicted to be there in 2025).
7.2 Patterns of power change over time and can be uni-, bi- or multi-polar
At different historical periods, the world has had different power patterns, with different
polarity:
A Unipolar World
One superpower has dominance e.g. The British Empire or the US dominated world of recent times,
by 1920 the British empire ruled more than 20% of the world’s population
A Bipolar World
Two superpowers with opposite ideologies compete for dominance e.g. the USA and the USSR
during the Cold War (1945-1990).
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