Superpowers Flashcards
Who are the top 6 superpowers
China Russia Brazil EU USA India
What are the 7 characteristics of superpowers
Physical size and geographical locations Military Demographics Economic power Access to natural resources Cultural influences Political factors
Define a superpower
a nation with the ability to project its influence anywhere in the world and be a dominant global force
Define a hyperpower
unchallenged superpower that is dominant in all the characteristics of power
Give an example of a hyperpower
USA 1990-2010
Define emerging superpower
nations whose economic, military and political influence is already large and is growing
Define geopolitics
the geographical expression of power
What two forms does power come in
soft and hard power
Explain soft power
power that arises from culture, political values and foreign policies
Aka power of persuasion
Explain hard power
military power, getting your own way by force
What are some features of a superpowers economic power
High GDP
Home to many TNC’s
Currency is not volatile
What are some features of a superpowers political power
Seat on UN security council
What are some features of a superpowers military power
nuclear weapons
Large amount of personnel
well trained
high expenditure
What are some features of a superpowers demographic
skilled
educated
Large economically active population
What are some features of a superpowers access to resources
Control and security over resources
Large amounts
Define hegemony
A country or state that is dominant over others
Name some features of hard power
Military force or its threat
Economic sanctions and diplomatic actions
Name some features of soft power
Political influence
Moral authority
Cultural attractiveness
What are the three areas in Mackinders theory (1904)
World island
offshore islands
outlying islands
Explain world island
Europe, Asia, Africa
Largest, most wealthy
Heart land at centre aka pivot area
Explain offshore islands
British Isles and Japan
Explain outlying islands
North and south America, Australia, NZ
What did MacKinder argue in his theory
that further away from heart land, the less influence you had
If controlled heart land, you controlled world island and therefore rest of the world too
Where did MacKinder believe 50% of resources were
pivot area
According to this theory, who should be the global power and why?
Russia due to positioning and resources
Why is Russia not a global power
resources trapped as they are frozen
Many borders so stealing and exploitation may be common
What does MacKinder also believe
that the heart land could shift
What has helped the shift of the heart land
transport
Explain the Colonial power era of the British Empire at the start of 20th century
Military – double navy of next competitor
Demographics – 20% of worlds [population
Size – 25% of land area
Political power – control over lots of countries
Can be seen as ‘unipolar’ - world dominated by one superpower
In theory world should be stable
Why was the British empre not unipolar
as Spain and France has powerful empires too
What lead to the development of the Colonial power era
due to the widely held view that colonising was correct as politically it gave land power and economically it gave access to large amounts of raw materials and provided a market for European manufactured goods
How was power held in the Colonial power era
through suppressing the natives through the use of racist language and brutal force over occasional rebellions, also through direct rule as the Queen was appointed as the Queen of these colonialised countries also
What did colonialists argue to supress natives
that they brough stability and trade to keep the natives from disobeying their rule
Who are the MINTs
Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey
Why are the MINTS emerging
through global economic and environmental governance
Why will the EU and Japan’s economies only grow slowly, if growing at all, in the future
due to their aging populations
What are we moving towards
a multipolar world
Why will China and Brazil grow economically even though they have aging populations
as they have manufacturing-based economies which will grow with consumerism, and they have a growing middle class
Superpowers are likely to grow from which two groups of countries
BRICS and G20
When did the BRICs join
2009
When did G20 start
1999
What is the aim of G20
reform the world bank and examine ways in which to tackle demographic issues such as an aging population
Which countries are expected to emerge greatly
Nigeria, India and Indonesia
Explain Rostow’s modernisation theory
this model suggests that countries go through a predetermined set of 5 stage before becoming a fully developed nation
he believs development requires substantial investment in capital
Who used the modernisation theory to develop capital
USA in 1991 after the collapse of USSR
What are some limitations of the modernisation theory
only describes the process of economic change and growth, it does not help us understand how countries gain political and cultural power
Explain Frank’s Dependency theory
how peripheral countries/areas are dependant on the core
believed that TNC investment in developing countries led to exploitation of skilled labour and cheap raw materials as well as creating international debt
and the poorer countries do not have the resources or institutions to resistthe exploitation
What has the periphery issue stemmed from
colonialism
What is an issue with Frank’s Dependency theory
it doesn’t suggest there can be a middle group such as the NIC’s who have broken away from exploitation
Explain Wallerstein’s world systems theory
a theory that looks at development within a global economic context instead of individual countries
core/semi-periphery/periphery
believes global depressions follow major changes in production every 50 years
What is a benefit of Wallerstein’s world systems theory
it has flexibility to recognise that countries may change groups over time
What is an issue with Wallerstein’s world systems theory
it ignores the fact that China and India were economic leaders in the 1800
middles classes are expected to rise from what to what by 2030
2 million to 3 million
What will happen in china by 2030
1 billion cars on the road
2/3 of 2015 cereal production consumed
80% of 2015 meat
80% of 2015 coal consumption
Which group has the largest growing middle class
BRICs
What are two implications of a growing middle class
increased pressure on food production as taks more area to hold livestock than crops
more flights afforded = more co2 emissions and fuel needed
What is a sphere of influence
a group of countries linked together by the same cultural or politcal values
Define global commons
any area beyond national jurisdication, potentially contested space eg Antarctica, Oceans, Atmosphere
Define territorial waters
zones of the sea over which a nation has jurisdiction which extend beyond the coastline
upheld by UNCLOS
What areas does UNCLOS regulate
immediate coastal zones territorial waters contiguous zone EEZ (exclusive economic zone) prone to disputes continental shelf
What can spheres of influence lead to
tensions over territory claims and resources
Why does China want to expand their territory
for resources
Why does Russia want to expand their territory
for power in size
Why is there tensions in the south and east china sea
china has a large continental shelf yet other countries such as Brunei and the Phillippines have EEZ claims in the same area
What has china done to fight this
placed military presence on tiny deserted islands and building ports and airports on them
also artifically building new islands (Spratly Islands)
Name 4 unfair relationships between superpowers and developing countries
Unfair terms in trade/exploitation
TNC’s
Neo colonialism
Brain drain
What form do these unfair relationships take
between wealthy corrupt elites
Why has China began to make relationships between african nations
to get resources
What did China do in Africa to aid themselves
invested FDI in infrastructure such as roads and railways
What was China’s African policy
An official Chinese government paper aimed at promoting economic and political cooperation as well as energy development without interfering with each other’s internal affairs
Why did China pursue that policy
China taken advantage of the fact that Africa does not seem to have been a diplomatic and economic priority with any other country/superpower
What was China’s second wave
Based on international trade and on securing considerable quantities of a wide array of raw materials to feed its growing industry and population
What was the second waves impact on Africa and the world
Impacted other countries as China was responsible for 40% of the increase in global oil demand
Impacted Africa as it was a major factor in their recent economic growth
Why is this policy an example of neo-colonialism
people see China supporting countries such as Zimbabwe as allowing brutal dictatorships
Why is this policy seen as South South development
Chinese people believe it is this as they have a fair cost/benefit relationship and are going to be the reason for africas economic growth
How has China impacted Africa’s commodity exports
Grown at a far faster rate than exports in general
China rely on Africa as they can no longer meet their own demands
How have Chinese TNCs impacted Africa
Mining TNC’s are worried China are freezing them out as they are making many deals with African countries
How has technology transfer affected economic development
Africa is behind in technology, but believes China has a good view towards technology transfer
Vital if Africa are to increase their share in global trade
How effective has Chinese aid been
Very effective yet strings attached, such as expectations of being awarded access to materials
Where is the global centre of economic activity predicted to be in the future
further towards india and china, asian countries
Why is it expected to move towards asian countries
as they have many emerging and superpower potenial countires with large populations and increasing GDP’s
What are the likely impacts of this change
Asia will become very economically and politically crowded, which may result in tensions
as they will all have large economies it is expected that they will also have a very large military prescence
What are the 4 economic challenges to superpowers
debt
unemployment
economic restructuring
social costs
Why is unemployment a challenge to the EU and USA
the unemployed are young, unqualified and unskilled
the ‘lost generation’
eg Sheffield and Pittburgh
rust belt vs sun belt - not equally spread
Why is economic restructuring a challenge to the EU and USA
restructuring causes unemployment/deindustrialisation and destroys communities such as mining communities
US less suseptible as $ is more stable
global shift occuring
What did debt lead to
the financial crisis 2007
What was suggested to combat financial crisis
austerity - cutting gov spending
increasing taxes
both decrease rate of economic growth
Why is a debt a threat to the EU
UK allowing TNC’s to come in and regenrate areas for us as we cant afford it but taking power with it
Why are social costs a challenge to the EU
creates refugees which puts pressure on resoures and can create conflict
the ‘glasgow effect’ - poor living conditions, education and life expectancy
What are the pros and cons of air power
cons - have to build bombers so that they can be upgraded with advancing technology but this is hard to anticipate
pros - able to destroy precise targets in hostile environments
What must superpowers balance
austerity and spending on hard power
Which superpower spends the most on military
USA
Is military spending increasing or decreasing in the EU
decreasing
What are the pros and cons of navy
pros - allows you to project hard power across islands and access resources
cons - 6 billion for 2 ships very expensive
What are the pros and cons of nuclear
pros - pose very large threat due to damage that can be done/nuclear deterrant
cons - rules stopping them from being used/never been deployed
Who has space power
USA, Russia, EU, China, India, Japan, Canada
Who has the greatest number of deployed nuclear warheads
USA - 1,800
second Russia - 1,500
Which car company has moved manufacturing from USA to China
Ford
What currency is the most stable
the US dollar, which gives the USA economic hegemony
What issue arose with the US dollar in other ocuntries
Turkey had a problem as people borrowed in US dollars, which then increased compared to their currency and people could not pay back their loans
What is an example of gaining power without physical size
the British Empire
had lots of strategic locations on trade routes
What is an example of gaining power through size
Russia, as they own 11% of land mass and a large proportion of the Arctic
also have a lot of natural resources
The worlds largest 10 economies earn what percentage of global GDP
65%
What is G20
the worlds largest 20 economies as a group
Due to globalisation, what are countries more likely to exert their power through
trade blocs or IGO’s
Name an example of how a country has used its large demographic to exert power
china used its large population to become the work shop of the world
What is regional power
power over countries around you
What is an hegemon and who is one
a worldwide superpower, only the USA
Name an example of a country with a small population but large regional power
Singapore
Name an example where having natural resources hindered economic development
in Africa, natural resources cause conflict and corfuption and TNC’s take advantage of it
Name two people vital in the USA’s oil and steel industries in the 1900’s
John Rockefeller
Andrew Carnegie
What did Mackinder believe would help the Uk become a global superpower
sea power
What is China doing to move away from hard power
funding african infrastructure
The exclusive economic zone gives countries control over the seabed up to how many nautical miles from the coast
200
Name 2 counterfeiting companies
Alibaba and Napster
Where did 88% of faked goods seized in the USA originate from
China
Between 2003-2017, who was the largest receiver of chinese investment
Egypt
What does the World Bank call the shifting of pollution to developing nations
pollution havens
