Superpowers Flashcards
Defining superpowers
Tend to have a disproportionate amount of global influence.
The USA is the only true superpower, because it is so much more powerful than other countries.
The EU- 28 countries and 510 million people is a nuclear weapons power and the world’s second largest economy. The fact that they often disagree is a weakness. It could be further weakened when the UK leaves.
Sources of power
Economic- large GDP gives countries the wealth needed to be a global player.
Political- leading within global organisations such as the UN ,IMF and WTO.
Military- nuclear weapons are required to threaten or force a country’s will on others.
Cultural- having ideas, arts, music, food and fashion that other people find appealing is a source of power.
Demographic- power requires power.
Natural resources- fossil fuels, land for farming, mineral wealth and water resources all increase self -sufficiency.
Mechanisms of power
Hard power- using military and economic influence.
Soft power- subtle persuasion of countries.
Joseph Nye argues that countries need to combine hard and soft power into smart power.
Hard power can get results but its often expensive and risky.
Some view military action as unnecessary or illegal, so aggressor may lose allies.
Soft power relies on a country having respected culture, values etc.
Soft power is low cost.
Changing mechanisms
The relative importance of hard power has changed over time. In the past, military force and hard power were the common mechanisms for achieving and maintaining power.
In 1904, Mackinder produced an influential geo-strageic location theory, called the Heartland Theory. This was influential:
Persuaded people that Russia needed to be contained.
Reinforced the idea that control of physical resources was important.
In the 21st these ideas seem old-fashioned:
Modern military technology can hit deep inside another countries territory.
Physical resources are traded internationally.
Wars and conflict are generally seen as abnormal.
Soft power has become more common as a way of gaining influence and maintaining power, by containing economic and political alliances.
Imperial power
The period 1500-1950 was an imperial era.
The development of empires relied on:
Powerful navies.
Large and advanced armed forces.
Businesses to exploit resources.
A fleet of merchant ships.
People from home country to act as the government and civil service.
Empires were maintained directly by force. Britain had the largest empire, reaching its peak in 1920 when it controlled 24% of the world’s land.
Imperial power ended when European countries gave independence to their colonies. This was because the cost of maintaining empires were too high, as Europe rebuilt after the war.
Indirect control
No superpowers has significant empire.
Indirect power became important during the cold war era. The USA/USSR sought allies among other countries. This included:
Military alliances.
Foreign aid.
Support for corrupt and undemocratic regimes in the developing world.
Some argue that Western nations continue to control their ex-colonies through neo-colonialism:
A debt-aid relationships.
Poor terms of trade.
Loss of their brightest and most productive people.
China has been accused of having neo-colonial actions in Africa.
Indirect mechanisms of power
Political- dominance in international decision making.
Military- threat of large, powerful armed forces with global reach.
Economic- use of trade deals and trade blocs to create economic alliances that create interdependence.
Cultural- use of the global media to spread the ideology and values of a country.
Geopolitical stability and risk
Uni-polar should be stable, but the costs of being the hegemon are high and hard to sustain.
Bi-polar involves a tense stand off between opposing powers.
Multi polar has no dominant power.
Emerging powers
China:
Huge human resources
Economy has grown massively
Increasingly engages with other parts of the world.
It has military ambitions.
Other BRIC and G20 countries could become more powerful in the future.
It is likely that in the future they will:
Demand more say international organisations.
Have more influence over global financial decisions making
Play a greater role in international peacekeeping missions and disaster response.
The BRIC countries account for 42% of all carbon dioxide emissions. This means that a global environmental governance agreement to tackle global warming has to involve these countries.
Strengths and weaknesses
Countries with ageing and even declining populations face major problems in the future in paying for increasingly costly healthcare while their workforce shrinks.
Shortages of physical resources could derail the ambitions of some countries while growing pollution could stall the growth of others.
Countries with modern infrastructure, balanced economic sectors and good energy supplies will do better than ones yet to develop these supplies.
Development theory
WW Rostow’s Modernisation theory- suggests that economic development only begins when certain pre-conditions are met: modern infrastructure, education, banking and effective government.
AG Frank’s Dependency theory- areas that the relationship between developed and developing countries is one of dependency: this prevents developing countries from making economic progress.
Wallerstein’s World Systems theory- global system of core, semi-periphery and periphery nations. A good fit for the current pattern of developed, emerging and developing countries.
Superpower influence on global economy
Have a disproportionate influence on the global economy.
At the end of WW2, the EU/USA created a range of global inter-governmental organisations to promote this model.
e.g.
World Bank lends money to promote economic development.
WTO- works to remove the barriers of international trade.
IMF- promotes global economic stability.
WEF- acts as a forum for discussion between business, politicians and IGos.
TNCs in the global economy
Public owned - owned by shareholders.
State owned- owned by governments. Found in communist countries. They are less democratic.
World’s biggest TNCs are from countries like USA, EU and China.
25% of the biggest 2000 companies in 2016 were from the USA.
Cultural influence
It is an aspect of power, linked to economic influence and the development and spread of new technology.
TNCs are the key drivers of cultural globalisation and Westernisation.
Global action
Superpowers and emerging powers have the ability to act globally. This is especially true to the USA.
The includes:
Intervening in war and conflict.
Taking action in terms of crisis response.
Responding to terrorism.
Responding to longer term threats.
