Emerging Powers (Edexcel A Level Geography): Revision Note

Increasing Importance of Emerging Powers

BRICS countries

• The BRICS group is made up of major emerging economies that work together on trade and global influence

  • It began as BRIC — Brazil, Russia, India and China

  • South Africa joined in 2010, making it BRICS

• The group then expanded further ("BRICS+"):

  • In January 2024, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates became members

  • Indonesia joined in January 2025

  • Saudi Arabia has been invited but has not yet formally joined

• China is still seen as the greatest rival to the dominance of the USA

• Remember: BRICS is not a trading bloc — it is a group of countries identified as emerging powers, each with its own strengths and weaknesses

Other G20 members

• There are other members of the G20 who are increasingly powerful

  • The EU is the largest trading bloc in the world

  • Other emerging powers in the G20 include Asian economies of Indonesia, Japan and South Korea

• Alongside the G20, the G7 is a group of seven major advanced economies — the USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada

  • The G7 represents established powers, while the G20 also includes emerging powers such as China, India and Brazil

Strengths & Weaknesses of Emerging Powers

Characteristics of Three Emerging Superpowers

Global environmental governance

• Climate change is an increasing concern, and any superpower must work with other countries to lead on tackling it

• This includes a leading role at the annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP)

• The BRICS nations are central to these talks because they include some of the world's largest emitters and fastest-growing economies:

  • China is the world's largest carbon emitter, but also the biggest investor in renewable energy

  • India argues that richer countries should cut emissions first, as they caused most past warming (common but differentiated responsibility)

  • Brazil is key because of the Amazon rainforest, and hosted COP30 in Belém in 2025

• Recent conferences include COP27 (Egypt, 2022), COP28 (UAE, 2023) and COP29 (Azerbaijan, 2024)

Development Theory

• There are several theories to explain the changing patterns of power

World systems theory

• Developed by Wallerstein in 1974

• The whole world is one unit divided into:
  

  • Core

  • Periphery

  • Semi-peripheries

• The World Systems Theory fits the pattern of developed, emerging and developing countries 

• It highlights the inequality in trading patterns

Criticisms of world systems theory

• Too focussed on the economy

• Insufficient focus on culture

Modernisation theory

• The Rostow model of the Stages of Economic Growth was developed in 1960

• Based on the study of 15 European countries

• Rostow suggested that all countries have the potential to break the cycle of poverty and develop through 5 linear stages:

  • Stage 1: Traditional society: economy based on bartering, subsidence farming and little investment

  • Stage 2: Pre-conditions for take off (transitional stage): surpluses are traded through improved infrastructure and shift to manufacturing

  • Stage 3: Take off: industrial and regional growth, investment and political change

  • Stage 4: Drive to maturity: growth is supported through technological innovation, diversification and investment

  • Stage 5 - High mass consumption: consumer orientated society, durable goods production, dominant service sector, higher disposable incomes

Criticisms of modernisation theory

• The model is outdated and too simple

• The model assumes all countries start at the same point (same resources, population, climate etc.)

• Capital is needed to advance from Stage 1

  • The model does not show how that capital is obtained: usually, a development aid loan.

  • The debt repayments can delay or even prevent a country from reaching Stage 3 and take off

• Colonialism, and the impact this had on the development of some countries are not taken into account or are underestimated 

Dependency theory

• The theory was developed by Andre Gunder Frank in the 1960s

• It argues that the:

  • Persistent poverty in developing countries is the result of their dependency on developed countries

  • There is an unequal relationship between the developed and developing countries

  • The ex-colonies were still in a state of dependency when they became independent

• Dependency theory is linked to neo-colonialism as it outlines how:

  • Primary resources are exported from developing countries to developed countries

  • The profits from these goods are low

  • Developing countries do not have the funds to process primary resources, which would add value

  • Developed countries often apply tariffs on processed good,s which means that developing countries struggle to export processed goods

Criticisms of dependency theory

• Developed countries have lost their power to control developing countries

• Countries are emerging and becoming more developed semi-peripheral countries, such as Mexico and India

• The global system is now controlled by TNCs and the World Trade Organisation

• Underdevelopment may be due to internal, not external, factors