Superpowers Case Studies

Question 1

Joseph Nye criticism of China’s soft power

Answer 1

“Despite spending billions of dollars to increase its soft power…China has had limited return on its investment”

Question 2

Problem with Confucius Institute and China Public Diplomacy Association

Answer 2

Soft power accrues when civil society actors do things with global appeal, not top down schemes interpretted as propaganda by foreigners

Question 3

Combined economic strength of BRIC nations

Answer 3

nearly $18 000 billion in 2010

Question 4

Proportion of world population taken up by BRIC nations

Answer 4

40%

Question 5

World land area of BRIC countries

Answer 5

25%

Question 6

Foreign currency reserves in BRIC nations

Answer 6

40% of world total

1/6 of foreign reserves of all BRIC nations combined would have the same value as the IMF

Question 7

Positive political aspects of BRIC nations

Answer 7

3/4 are nuclear powers (Not Brazil)

2 have seats on the UN Security Council (Russia and China)

Question 8

Problems which may hinder China’s superpower status

Answer 8

Some critics claim China has little regard for human rights and democracy
Possibility of conflict over Taiwan and Hong Kong
Aging population crisis
Huge CO2 emissions due to rapid industrialisation

Question 9

Problems which may hinder Russia’s superpower status

Answer 9

Re-emergence has been largely facilitated by oil and gas demand- which is not a sustainable source of income

Russia has a negative population dividend- shrinking and aging population

Breakup of Soviet Union caused collapse of health and communist welfare system- falling life expectancy and rising poverty

Question 10

Problems which may hinder India’s superpower status

Answer 10

Problems with Pakistan and Kashmir 
Number one in terms of population poverty 
Duel economy 
Infrastructure problems 
The caste system

Question 11

Problems which may hinder Brazil’s superpower status

Answer 11

Experienced huge debt levels in 1980s

Recovery only very recent with huge trade surpluses and liquidation of foreign debt

Question 12

Japan’s preconditions for superpower status

Answer 12

Higher GDP per capital than UK and USA in 1980s

World leader in exporting consumer electronics, ICT, cars and industrial machinary

Question 13

Why is Japan not an established superpower

Answer 13

Property value suddenly dropped in 1989, initiating the collapse of Japanese stock markets
4-6% interest rates encourages saving over spending, slowing the economy
Aging population
Stagnation of market due to more competative industry in South Korea and China

Question 14

Economic power in South Korea (Positives)

Answer 14

Diversified economy, 15th largest in the world

Highly competative manufacturing and industrial bases

Question 15

Negative factor in South Korean economy

Answer 15

Dependancy on exports leaves them vunerable to external shocks
Banking system relies on offshore funding

Question 16

South Korean political stability

Answer 16

Korean War ended in 1953 without formal peace treaty and north korea’s behaviour is often aggressive and erratic
Strong internal democratic systems

Question 17

Military in South Korea

Answer 17

One of the largest standing armies in the world-
3 700 000 reported personel
10th largest defence budget in the world
mandetory conscription for male citezens aged 18+

Question 18

Environment in South Korea

Answer 18

Rapid reduction in biodiverity of larger mammals due to spread of urbanisation
9th largest carbon emmiter in the world
$193 billion invested in renewable energy research in 2008

Question 19

Problems with the WTO (Superpowers)

Answer 19

Decisions made by mutual agreement and thus often favours the EU and USA
Forced removal of farming subsidies undercut national farmers because import was then cheaper
Africa forced to give up 90% of tariffs on their trade with the EU because no clear rules existed to protect them- rule ambiguities make it wasy to manipulate developing nations

Question 20

Problems wirh IMF (Superpowers)

Answer 20

Individual voting rights are proportional to the amount nations invest into the fund- cycle of exponential benefit for rich countries
Top 10 countries control 60% og total IMF voting rights

Question 21

Problems with WEF (Superpowers)

Answer 21

Primarily capitalist countries

National voter instincts conflict with globalised ideas of WEF favouring their own selfish national agendas

Question 22

Global TNC- profits

Answer 22

in 2014, world’s 500 largest companies made $1.7 trillion in profit

Question 23

Global TNC employment

Answer 23

Top 500 largest employed 65 million people

Question 24

1994 Rwandan Genocide and the UN

Answer 24

800 000 people (ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus) likes by Hutus extremists
Red Cross reported 10s of thousands dead
UN Security Council declared it as an act of genocide
NO MILITARY REINFORCEMENTS SENT

Question 25

UN and 2002 Iraq War

Answer 25

Resolution 1441 passed by council demanded Iraq disarm and cooperate with weapons inspectors
US/UK assert that 1441 allowed military action - France and Russia disagreed
France threaten to veto a new resolution allowing war
US and UK did it without Security Council approval- little to no repercussion

Question 26

Haiti earthquake humanitarian relief effort in 2010

Answer 26

Magnitude 7
US Air Force restores air traffic to Port-au-Prince airport to allow aid transport
US Coastguard helicopters began relied flights
1600 marines deployed to help

Question 27

Superpower response to Bosnian war (1992-5)

Answer 27

Break up of Yugoslavia 
UN resolution make NATO enforced no fly zone 
UN Peacekeepers establishes safe zones 
NATO naval blockade in the Adriatic
NATO air strikes

Question 28

EU commitments to the Paris Agreement

Answer 28

In 2015 greenhouse gas emissions reduced by 22% since 1990

EU renewable energy use 16%

Question 29

Russian response to Paris Agreement

Answer 29

Heavily rely on carbon sink of Russian forest to reach emission targets
Technically already 35% below 1990 levels before signing agreement because of economic crash- allowing them to increase
Aggressively targeting arctic territories for oil

Question 30

China response to Paris Agreement

Answer 30

Agreed to stop upward trend in emission by 2030
Reduced emissions by 5% in a few months in 2015
World leader in renewables

Question 31

What is the belt and road (belton road) initiative

Answer 31

‘New silk road’
170 agreements with 125 countries
Worth $90 billion in Chinese investment and totslling $8 trillion in Chinese spending

Question 32

Examples of malpractise in the New Silk Road

Answer 32

Critics see project as mode to generate unsustainable debt in countries which are smaller and more vunerable to project failure
China takes possession of a port in Sri Lanka for 99 years after the Sri Lankan government could pay infrastructural debt
Ethiopian railway protests because the track is unfenced and resulting in the death of livestock and people

Question 33

Religion in China

Answer 33

Poor western provinces with over 1 million muslims detained- fear of terrorism and seperatism

Question 34

How China is exploiting their international partners

Answer 34

Exploitation of natural resources ie: coal

Emissions are not attributed to China because they are not produced IN China