What are superpowers?
superpowers- A nation with the ability to project its influence anywhere in the world and be a
dominant global force
USA, UK, Russia
Why is the USA a superpower?
-annexation of foreign locations (Hawaii, Guam)
-installation of pro-USA regimes (Nicaragua)
-involvement in WW1/WW2, creation of league nations/UN and NATO
-40% of global military spending is spent by the USA
-atomic weapons
-role in the IMF/World Bank
Hyperpowers- an unchallenged superpower, dominant in all aspects of
USA 1990-2010
UK 1850-1910 (height of British Empire)
Emerging superpowers- a nation whose influence is already large, and is growing further
China, India
Around 12,512 warheads in the world
Pillars of power
Economic power
-pre-requisite of power
-To be able to afford strong military
-To make alliances through trade
Military power
-threat if action, and can be used to achieve geopolitical goals
-deterrent
Political power
-membership of political organisations
-IGOs
-financial/trade (WTO, WB, IMF)
-military (NATO)
-UN
Cultural power
-globalisation, cultural erosion, homogenisation, westernisation
Resource power
-natural and Human Resources
-demographic weight
,Superpower Spectrum
invasion
Soft power Economic power taurif ↳
Hard power -Russianaverance
-cultural attractiveness
-Western
-economic investment (FDI) -military action/conquest
-values and ideology or developmental aid from uk and
↳ Ill flik our strikes on
↑
medie
-threat of force Syria 2018
-moral authority of a (westernisation) one nation to another &USA ukraine
to
+
-creation of alliances (to
nations foreign policy -signing trade deals and exclude other nations) NATO
↳ Canada
creating economic ties -use of economic sanctions
(trade blocs) against another nation
↳ China-Russia ↳ sanctions agamst
↳ FDI - China-Africa Russia /Ukraine)
, How do Superpowers maintain control?
-helps to fund
,
historical context/legacy recourse Grade/wealth miltary
↑ ↑
Does territory/control over land influence superpower status
I
relief/topography
Mackinder’s Geo-strategic location theory (Heartland Theory)
Mackinder believed that 3 things determined power in this region:
-whoever ruled the most strategic part of Europe would command heartland
-whoever ruled the heartland would command the world island (Europe, Russia)
-whoever controlled the world island ruled the world
The further away from the heartland a country was, the less influence it would have
According to Mackinder’s theory, Russia should be the world’s global power
But is isn’t because:
-it has many borders - could be attacked from many directions
-much of its coasts are frozen in winter naval -
power was limited
-justification for annexation of crimea Iwarm port water
-sea power and industrialisation shifted the centre of power westwards >
-
Uh-industrial of steam
revemen power
This theory is based on the key promise that control over land equates to political power.
It was linked to polices of containment including:
1, attempts following WW1 to limit the ability of Germany to expand its territory
2, post WW2/Cold war attempts by NATO (and their allies) to contain the USSR (Soviet Union) from
expanding in to western and southern Europe
3, the ‘Truman Doctrine’ policy of the 1940s/1950s to contain the spread of communism from the
USSR and China
superpowers- A nation with the ability to project its influence anywhere in the world and be a
dominant global force
USA, UK, Russia
Why is the USA a superpower?
-annexation of foreign locations (Hawaii, Guam)
-installation of pro-USA regimes (Nicaragua)
-involvement in WW1/WW2, creation of league nations/UN and NATO
-40% of global military spending is spent by the USA
-atomic weapons
-role in the IMF/World Bank
Hyperpowers- an unchallenged superpower, dominant in all aspects of
USA 1990-2010
UK 1850-1910 (height of British Empire)
Emerging superpowers- a nation whose influence is already large, and is growing further
China, India
Around 12,512 warheads in the world
Pillars of power
Economic power
-pre-requisite of power
-To be able to afford strong military
-To make alliances through trade
Military power
-threat if action, and can be used to achieve geopolitical goals
-deterrent
Political power
-membership of political organisations
-IGOs
-financial/trade (WTO, WB, IMF)
-military (NATO)
-UN
Cultural power
-globalisation, cultural erosion, homogenisation, westernisation
Resource power
-natural and Human Resources
-demographic weight
,Superpower Spectrum
invasion
Soft power Economic power taurif ↳
Hard power -Russianaverance
-cultural attractiveness
-Western
-economic investment (FDI) -military action/conquest
-values and ideology or developmental aid from uk and
↳ Ill flik our strikes on
↑
medie
-threat of force Syria 2018
-moral authority of a (westernisation) one nation to another &USA ukraine
to
+
-creation of alliances (to
nations foreign policy -signing trade deals and exclude other nations) NATO
↳ Canada
creating economic ties -use of economic sanctions
(trade blocs) against another nation
↳ China-Russia ↳ sanctions agamst
↳ FDI - China-Africa Russia /Ukraine)
, How do Superpowers maintain control?
-helps to fund
,
historical context/legacy recourse Grade/wealth miltary
↑ ↑
Does territory/control over land influence superpower status
I
relief/topography
Mackinder’s Geo-strategic location theory (Heartland Theory)
Mackinder believed that 3 things determined power in this region:
-whoever ruled the most strategic part of Europe would command heartland
-whoever ruled the heartland would command the world island (Europe, Russia)
-whoever controlled the world island ruled the world
The further away from the heartland a country was, the less influence it would have
According to Mackinder’s theory, Russia should be the world’s global power
But is isn’t because:
-it has many borders - could be attacked from many directions
-much of its coasts are frozen in winter naval -
power was limited
-justification for annexation of crimea Iwarm port water
-sea power and industrialisation shifted the centre of power westwards >
-
Uh-industrial of steam
revemen power
This theory is based on the key promise that control over land equates to political power.
It was linked to polices of containment including:
1, attempts following WW1 to limit the ability of Germany to expand its territory
2, post WW2/Cold war attempts by NATO (and their allies) to contain the USSR (Soviet Union) from
expanding in to western and southern Europe
3, the ‘Truman Doctrine’ policy of the 1940s/1950s to contain the spread of communism from the
USSR and China
