Superpowers Flashcards
1
Q
What does geopolitical power of a country depend on?
A
- areal extent of power - global influence, regional power is a leading country on a continental scale, an emerging power has global influence in some areas (political)
- nature of power - economic power, military power, political power, cultural power, resources
2
Q
How can powerful countries exert their power?
A
- hard power - economic or/and military strength
- soft power - more subtle and gradual - cultural projects
3
Q
Key points about change over time
A
- the relative power of nations has changed over time and so has the importance of nature of the mechanism being used
- in the 19th and 20th centuries UK, France and Germany were more dominant and hard power was effective
4
Q
H.J Mackinder…..
A
- identified a centeral region of eurasia that was known as the heartland
- he argued it was the key geo strategic location in the world because control commanded a huge portion of worlds physical and human resources
- his theory was influential as it contributed to policies of containment - eg - after WW1 = limit land controlled by Germany
5
Q
Recent trends key points (soft/hard power)
A
- in 21st century soft power been more dominant
- some recent examples of hard power - eg - Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine (crimea) - being led by USA and Russia
6
Q
Key points of imperial power
A
- several european powers each had an empire until end of WW2
- empires depended on - powerful navy for transport of troops and equipment - large armies - government backed businesses - large merchant navy
- colonialism ruled the territories - efficient civil service was key
7
Q
What did a multipolar world create?
A
- conflict between opposing empires - eg - Britain and Germany in WW2 and WW1
- tensions where people of the colonies sought independence from acts of brutal supression against them
8
Q
Since end of WW2 empires have gone and there are now indirect mechanisms of power…..
A
- economic - trade blocs
- political - UN and other groups like G7/8 and G20
- military - joining of military arms of countries - eg - NATO
- cultural - considered influential - eg - westernisation
9
Q
How do western nations exert neocolonialism over other countries?
A
- continuing to import low value commodities from developing nations
- continuing to export high value manafactured goods to developing nations
- enabling financial situations such that developing nations are indebted to western nations
- encouraging the migration of skilled people away from developing nations
10
Q
Why do people think China is rivalling the USA’s hegemony?
A
- say China is adopting neocolonial practises in some African countries
- China however states its seeking to help develop these nations and has little global ambition
11
Q
Key points about stability and risk
A
- a unipolar world is dominated by one superpower - eg - British Empire
- a bipolar world is where 2 superpowers have different ideologies
- a multipolar world is more complex - many superpowers and emerging powers competing for power
12
Q
Key points about emerging powers
A
- the BRICs countries - brazil, russia, india, china and south africa
- other members of the G20 - account for 85% of global GDP
13
Q
How are the emerging powers exerting influence?
A
- demanding more influence on bodies like the UN
- being at the heart of financial institutions - eg - WTO
- involved in global environment governance - eg - the UN climate change conferences
- playing a role in peacekeeping missions and disaster response
14
Q
Worlds systems theory
A
- stresses that development should be viewed in a global economic context rather than individual countries
- expansion of global capitalist economies in the 19th and 20th centuries resulted in 3 economic development categories; core regions (OECD countries), semi periphery regions (emerging powers) and periphery regions (rest of developing world)
- core uses semi periphery as cheap location for manafacturing and services
- core gains large returns on its foreign investments
- periphery provides raw materials
15
Q
Dependency theory
A
- periphery countries provide a range of services to core countries
- developed countries control growth of developing nations by setting prices paid for commodities through WB or IMF
- keeping countries underdeveloped reduces number of potential rival emerging powers
- wealthy elites benefit from dependency relationship because they control limited trade in goods
16
Q
Modernisation theory
A
- 5 stages
- traditional society - subsistence economy based mainly on farming with limited technology
- preconditions for take off - investment that allows agriculture to be more commercialised
- take off - manafacturing industries grow rapidly with growth being concentrated in one or two areas
- drive to maturity - period of self sustaining growth; economic growth spreads to all parts of the country
- age of mass consumption - period of rapid expansion of service industries with decline in manafacturing
