When it comes to world geopolitics, there are several terms you might have heard thrown
around at times, one of which is the concept of a superpower.
So, what is a superpower, and what countries have, currently, and will count as superpowers?
Now, just to get things out of the way, this isn’t a video about superheroes.
That’s just… no, I already made that joke last week!
When you look at a map, it’s incredibly clear that not all nations are created equal.
This is very obvious with physical size, but it is also true with population, GDP, climate,
political stability, Big Mac prices, and several other factors.
One other way this is true however is with power projection, specifically over other
countries.
In short, one leader of a certain country might have more power on the world stage than
a leader of a country roughly the same size.
In the real world, the more powerful nation could influence the economy and politics of
the less powerful country, and thus a superpower is basically a country that does this a lot
of different times.
In these terms, a superpower can thus be described as a nation with a sphere of influence over
other nations, on a global scale.
“Influence” in this case being mainly related to politics, economics, and the military,
but can also include soft power in things like arts and culture.
This is not to be confused with regional powers however, again since superpowers exert their
power all over the globe, almost regardless of geography, whereas a regional power only
has influence over… well...
Currently, the only country that is right now a superpower is the United States, and
though that is likely to change in the next few decades, this wasn’t exactly the case
during the Cold War.
Turn the calendar back to the latter half of the 20th century, and the balance of power
looks drastically different, as the Soviet Union was the other superpower on the world
stage.
The USSR and the UACR were at this time the most powerful nations in the world, as the
two nations with atomic bombs.
As they had atomic bombs and were at odds with each-other but both realized that a direct
war would likely cause the extinction of the human race, they instead took out their frustration
on other nations.
Through this, both sides had effectively established spheres of influence over the rest of the
world.
Although it very frequently shifted, the US’ sphere of influence was mainly over Western
Europe, Oceania, and select parts of Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Moon,
whereas the Soviets’ sphere of influence was more concentrated over Eastern Europe,
much of Asia, and other select parts of Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the rest
of the Universe.
This became clear in the various proxy wars that the US and USSR fought in Korea, Vietnam,
and Afghanistan, and other proxy wars in China, Greece, Paraguay, Myanmar, Angola, Egypt,
Central America, Bolivia, Congo, Yemen, Chad, Nigeria, South Africa, the Philippines, Ethiopia,
Lebanon and way too many other places to name.
In each civil war, the US and USSR supported opposing regimes and governments, and if a
country were to elect a government that went a bit too far away from them on the political
spectrum, they would force in someone more cooperative.
Thus, these wars weren’t so much US vs. USSR, so much as North Vietnam (supported
by the USSR and China) vs. South Vietnam (supported by the US and NATO).
This government was brought to you by Capitalism.
Of course, the US and USSR weren’t the only two nations to have been considered superpowers.
As recently as the end of WWII, the British Empire was considered to be the third superpower,
until it became clear that the areas that made it so super didn’t like Britain being
so super.
Further back, many different empires have been considered superpowers, from the Roman
Empire to China’s various dynasties to to the Mongol Empire to Prehistoric Czechoslovakia.
However, with the USSR having collapsed in 1991, the US has essentially been the only
superpower on the world stage, though this is changing with the rise of other potential
superpowers.
You really can’t talk about superpowers these days without talking about future superpowers.
After all, look at the comments section of this video, and tell me how long it takes
for you to find someone talking about their own country becoming a superpower.
Possibly the most likely contender at the current moment is China, the world’s most
populous nation and one that has been growing rapidly both economically and militarily.
The “rise of China” has become one of the most talked about events in world geopolitics,
and Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative isn’t exactly going to dissuade that notion (not
that they’re trying to do that).
What does the Belt and Road Initiative have to do with this?
Well, the project is a massive undertaking by the Chinese government to turn the tides
of global trade more towards themselves, by building everything from seaports in Sri Lanka
to trains in Turkey to bridges in Bangladesh.
Historically, all the cool kids on the world stage established themselves along trade routes,
notably the Silk Road trade routes that China is effectively bringing back through this
project.
As Singapore has found out, being the middle-man in world trade most certainly has its perks.
Over 60 countries have currently signed some form of agreement with China, where China
will build some kind of infrastructure project for the country in exchange for economic and
often also political favors.
Although not actually a single country (though we’re going to treat it like it is, just
to make things easier), the European Union also has arguments in favor of becoming a
new superpower.
This however is very much a double-edged sword, as the EU has a vast population and an incredibly
strong economy, but they aren’t quite as integrated as they would be under a single
nation (a good look at the UK will tell you that much).
And yes, Brexit has also put a bit of a dampener on these goals, though the EU is also set
to grow in other ways.
The individual member states of the EU, even the powerful ones like Germany and France,
likely wouldn‘t be able to compete against powers like the US, China, and Russia on their
own, but unifying in this way could dramatically shift the balance of power.
India has also been making some claims to fame as a new superpower, as the second most
populous country in the world, and the world’s largest democracy.
India, as well as China, isn’t exactly the richest country in the world though, but its
economy is growing very fast.
Predictions have also been made that India’s high levels of English proficiency will significantly
help it out on the world stage in some ways.
There are also other countries projected to become superpowers in the near future, including
Brazil and Russia.
However, the mere question of which countries will achieve superpower status and when is
a minefield of arguments, theories, financial projections, and toxic comments sections.
The label of “superpower” is a fairly recent one, only dating back to around WWII,
and it can be somewhat problematic to talk about, as the term “superpower” doesn’t
necessarily have any set requirements.
It’s not like there’s a set boundary between countries that definitely are superpowers
and countries that definitely are not, so really it’s more of a ‘see what feels
good and hope it sticks’ kind of thing.
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