Superpowers

Question 1

what is a superpower?

Answer 1

• a country with the capacity to project dominating power and influence anywhere in the world, sometimes in more than one region of the globe at a time - Alice Miller

Question 2

what is a superpower built on?

Answer 2

A superpower is built on the foundation of a strong economy, then maintained by strong military, strong political power, strong cultural power and a large supply of resources.

Question 3

why is a strong economy important for superpowers?

Answer 3

A good economy means countries can control investment, have powerful currencies eg the dollar, determine global economic policies and earn a large percentage of global GDP, meaning they have more to spend

Question 4

why is a strong military important for superpowers?

Answer 4

Strong military means a country has the ability to protect itself, and to exert influence by intimidating other countries and even invading them

Question 5

why are global connections important for superpowers?

Answer 5

good connections means countries have good trade links etc which can boost the economy

Question 6

why is size/location important for superpowers?

Answer 6

larger countries tend to have greater resources and influence

Question 7

why is resource access important for superpowers?

Answer 7

possession of key resources gives some leverage over others, but also leads to self reliance in some industries

Question 8

why is political strength important for superpowers?

Answer 8

countries with a strong government can have great influence worldwide, especially if they link with like minded countries - they can also form alliances and make and regulate laws

Question 9

why is population size important for superpowers?

Answer 9

large population means a country has a large labour force to generate economic growth

Question 10

what is hard power?

Answer 10

the expression of a country’s will or influence through military force

Question 11

what is soft power?

Answer 11

power that arises from a county’s culture, political values and its foreign policies

Question 12

what is colonialism?

Answer 12

The practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with its own settlers, and exploiting it economically, socially and environmentally.

Question 13

what is uni polar rule / hedgemony?

Answer 13

In geopolitics this is when one state exercises most of the cultural, economic, and military power and influence over the rest.

Question 14

what is spheres of influence?

Answer 14

A large geographic area of the world in which another country has power to affect developments even though it has no formal authority.

Question 15

What are the BRIC emerging superpowers?

Answer 15

Brazil, Russia, India, China

Question 16

What is modernisation theory

Answer 16

Developed by Rostow in 1960. It is a five-stage model that outlines five phases that countries must pass through to develop and gain more power.
Strengths - provides strong economic foundation as centred around economic growth, allows development status of a country to be easily seen as they will be within one of the 5 stages of development
Weaknesses - does not acknowledge how countries really develop through use of loans and aid, theory is outdated because china and india have developed however they leapfrogged and missed some stages

Question 17

What is dependency theory?

Answer 17

It split the world into developed core countries and underdeveloped peripheral countries. Suggested that the relationship between the core and periphery helps to maintain and increase the power of the core countries whilst the peripheral countries remain weak.
Strengths - illustrates how countries can develop using exploitation of cheap resources, taking into account inequality between rich and poor, explains why some nations have been held back
Weaknesses - too simple to explain development of countries, underdevelopment can be due to factors other than exploitation by the core such as poor leadership, climate, china and india have developed rapidly despite being cheap manufacturing countries

Question 18

what is world systems theory?

Answer 18

Was a three-tier model with the core, periphery and semi-periphery. Wallerstein argued that cycles of growth and stagnation which typify capitalist development allow some countries to shift between the tiers, becoming more or less powerful, thereby leading to changing patterns of power over time.
Strengths - appreciates dependency on the core by the periphery and vice versa to an extent, takes into account india and china as semi periphery nations, explains developed vs developing world idea,
Weaknesses - does not take into account internal factors such as poor leadership and corruption in LICS, no clear dividing line between core, semi periphery and periphery

Question 19

what is the global middle class?

Answer 19

those households with daily expenditure’s between $10 and $50 per person in purchasing power parity terms

Question 20

how does the growing global middle class affect water? (India)

Answer 20

• Emerging powers eg India already have water supply problems
• India’s situation will likely be critical by 2030, with 60% of areas facing water scarcity
• Water supply in China, Indonesia and Nigeria could be problematic by 2030, especially in urban areas

Question 21

how does the growing global middle class affect food ?

Answer 21

• Pressure on food in emerging power will result from the nutrition transition and demand for new food types
• Land once used for staple food grains will be converted to produce meat and dairy products
• Without new land, prices could rise, harming the poorest

Question 22

how does the growing global middle class affect energy?

Answer 22

• Global oil demand was about 95mil barrels per day in 2015; by 2030 this is likely to rise, along with coal and gas demand, perhaps by 30%
• Meeting this price demand may lead to prices rising and/or supply shortages
• Countries with their own domestic supplies (Russia, Brazil) are likely to be in a stronger position than those relying on imports (India)

Question 23

What is neocolonialism?

Answer 23

Neo-colonialism was first used to describe the continued dependence of former colonies on other countries after their independence. However, it has now become used to describe the exploitative relationship between more powerful developed countries who are using their relationship with less developed countries for their own benefit.

Question 24

Alternatives to superpowers - The world bank and IMF

Answer 24

• The World Bank and IMF provides loans to developing countries. These loans aim to help the country develop. However, they have both been been criticised due to them providing funds for projects that have been unethical and have damaged the environment e.g. rainforest clearance to make way for developments.
• They have also been criticised because they have given loans to countries who are incapable to pay back their loans.
• The USA and EU have the highest proportion of voting rights within both these organisations, so their interests are closely tied with the IGOs, rather than the interests of the indebted countries.

Question 25

Alternatives to superpowers - WTO

Answer 25

The WTO aims to ensure free global trade and opportunities are equal for all countries. The WTO generally aims to reduce protectionist measures. However, it has been criticised because it has failed to stop developed nations from protecting its own industries. For example, the USA and EU which give subsidies to their farmers but this affected developing nations as farmers in developing nations have lost out as their produce becomes less competitive due to it being more expensive

Question 26

Alternatives to superpowers - WEF

Answer 26

The WEF is a Swiss not-for-profit organisation which promotes public-private co-operation. The organisation meets every year in Davos where there are thousands of politicians, delegates, economists etc. It costs $19,000 to attend, which make attendance for small businesses or under-represented countries limited.

Question 27

Why are TNCs more influential than IGOs?

Answer 27

• Economies of scale has allowed them to reduce their costs and out-compete their smaller competitors, gaining huge profits in the process.
• Their ability to borrow money has allowed them to invest in new technology
• The move towards capitalism across the world has opened up more opportunities for them

Question 28

Alternatives to superpowers - UN security council

Answer 28

The UN consists of 5 permanent members (USA, UK, France, China & Russia) and 10 non-permanent rotating members which change every 2 years. The UN has the internationally-recognised power to:
▪ Sanctions can be applied to countries that are deemed to be a security risk (e.g. North Korea), harbouring terrorism, threatening or invading other states.
▪ Military force against another country can be authorised
▪ UN Peacekeeping Force can be authorised to reduce conflict and tensions or improve development and quality of life for locals.
It could be said that the UN Security Council works in an imperfect way because:
▪ Any of the permanent member states can veto a decision
▪ The USA, UK & France usually vote together whilst Russia and China generally vote together which leads to no progress within the council

Question 29

Alternatives to superpowers - International court of justice

Answer 29

The court (based in the Hague, The Netherlands) settles disputes between different UN member states. The ICJ has 15 judges of which 5 are from the West with the remaining from other parts of the world. It aims to achieve geopolitical stability and hold governments accountable for actions against the welfare and human rights of their people.

Question 30

Military alliances - NATO

Answer 30

• NATO is a group of nations which was formed during the Cold War and consists of allies of the USA. Its main policy dictates that if one member gets attacked, other members will come and assist that country.
• Recent Russian military activity in Ukraine and Eastern Europe has brought NATO members together as they don’t want Russia to gain control of more land and influence more people. This has led to an escalation of tensions and NATO has sent in more troops.

Question 31

Economic alliances - EU

Answer 31

• The EU began with just six founding nations but has since increased to include 28 member states. The EU promotes free trade and movement of goods and people between member states. There is increasing tensions within different EU states from those who want greater integration and cooperation and those who want to leave (e.g. Brexit).

Question 32

Environmental alliances - IPCC

Answer 32

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
- This organisation was established by the UN in 1988. Its aims are to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the harm humans are doing to the environment. Its success can be argued, since many governments still pollute and are not held accountable by the many policies and protocols they may have signed.

Question 32

How can global influence be contested?

Answer 32

• conflict over land ownership
• conflict over intellectual property
• conflict over resources (Arctic oil and gas)
• conflict over borders (Russia’s Western border)

Question 33

How do TNCs influence global economic systems?

Answer 33

• TNCs have influence over global culture and the ownership of innovation and patents.
• TNCs and governments around the world invest heavily in research and development in order to develop new products and processes that are unique. Intellectual Property laws protect these new inventions through:
  ● Patents for technologies and systems
  ● Copyright for music, books and artworks
  ● Trademarks for designs like logos
• Anyone who wants to use these innovations has to pay royalty fees to the inventor or designer. In the past, patents have only been available to Western TNCs, due to the high cost of application. However, there has been a recent increase in alternative countries with patents and intellectual property, such as China.

Question 34

Heartland Theory

Answer 34

The area of land which Mackinder believed to be pivotal for controlling the world. He argued that whoever controlled Europe and Asia (the world’s biggest landmass) would control the world