Superpowers Key Terms Flashcards
What is the Belt and Road Initiative?
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a global development strategy launched in 2013 to enhance regional connectivity and economic integration across Africa and Asia through infrastructure projects like roads, railways, and ports across over 150 countries.
It is considered by some to be a form of neocolonialism.
What is a Bipolar World?
A world divided between two dominant powers (e.g. USA and USSR during the Cold War).
What does BRICS stand for?
An association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
What was the British Empire?
One of the largest and most influential empires in history, which helped establish British global dominance.
What was the Cold War?
A period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, along with allies, from the end of World War II in 1945 until the early 1990s. It was characterised by political, military, and ideological rivalry, but it did not result in direct large-scale conflict between the two superpowers.
Instead, it involved proxy wars, nuclear arms race, espionage, and competition for global influence.
What is Colonialism?
The direct political control and occupation of foreign territories, often for economic gain.
What is Cultural Homogenisation?
The process where local cultures become increasingly similar due to global influences.
What is Cultural Imperialism?
The dominance of one culture over others, often through media and global brands.
What is Debt Diplomacy?
Influence gained through loans that are hard to repay, often linked to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
What are Debt Traps?
A form of economic dependence where loans are given with high interest or expectations, leading to unsustainable debt and loss of sovereignty.
What is Dependency Theory?
The idea that developing countries remain poor because they are exploited by wealthier nations.
What is an Emerging Power?
A country growing in influence and power on the world stage (e.g., BRICS nations).
What is Environmental Governance?
How superpowers influence global environmental agreements and policies.
What is Foreign Policy?
A country’s strategy in dealing with other nations.
What is Geostrategy?
Strategic use of geography by states to achieve global influence.
What is Hard Power?
Power through force, threats or coercion (e.g., military or economic sanctions).
What is the Heartland Theory?
Mackinder’s theory that control of Eastern Europe (the ‘Heartland’) would lead to control of the world.
What is Hegemony?
Leadership or dominance of one country or group over others.
What is a Hyperpower?
A state that dominates all others in every sphere (military, economic, cultural) with no real competition.
What are Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)?
Legal protections for creations of the mind (e.g., inventions, literary works, designs).
What are Intergovernmental Organisations (IGOs)?
Bodies like the UN or IMF that facilitate cooperation between member states.
What is Middle-Class Consumption?
Increased demand for goods, services, and resources due to the rising number of middle-income earners globally.
What is a Military Alliance?
A pact between countries for mutual defence (e.g. NATO).
What is Modernisation Theory?
A theory suggesting that all countries follow a similar path of economic development from traditional to modern industrial societies.
What is a Multipolar World?
A world with several powerful nations.
What is NATO?
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation; a military alliance of European and North American countries created during the cold war in response to the threat from the USSR.
What is Neo-Colonialism?
Indirect control over developing countries through debt, aid, or trade dominance.
What are Patents?
Legal rights giving inventors exclusive control over the use and production of their inventions.
What are Proxy Wars?
Conflicts where two opposing countries or powers support combatants in a third country, instead of fighting directly.
What are Rare Earth Minerals?
Essential, scarce elements used in advanced technologies and weaponry. China controls a large percentage of rare earth minerals.
What is Resource Security?
Access to reliable and affordable energy and raw materials.
What are Sanctions?
Penalties applied by one country (or group) to influence another’s behaviour.
What is Sharp Power?
The use of manipulative diplomatic or cultural tools by authoritarian regimes to influence and undermine democratic institutions.
What is Smart Power?
A combination of hard and soft power strategies.
What is Soft Power?
The ability to shape preferences through culture, values, and diplomacy.
What was the Soviet Union (USSR)?
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a former communist superpower in Eastern Europe and Asia.
What is a Sphere of Influence?
A region where a superpower has indirect control or dominance.
What are Staple Grains?
Essential crops such as wheat, rice, and maize that form the basis of global food supplies.
What is a Superpower?
A country with the capacity to project power and influence globally (militarily, economically, culturally).
What is Tied Aid?
Foreign aid provided with conditions that require the recipient to spend it on goods or services from the donor country.
What are TNCs (Transnational Corporations)?
Large companies operating in multiple countries, influential in global affairs.
What is a Unipolar World?
A world dominated by one superpower.
What is World Systems Theory?
Wallerstein’s model dividing the world into core, semi-periphery, and periphery nations in a capitalist global system.
