Significance of States in Global Affairs (Edexcel A Level Politics): Revision Note

Great powers

• Great powers have significant political, military and/or economic influence and power either in the present or in the last century

  • Five of the great powers are permanent members of the UN Security Council demonstrating the significance of political power. 

Superpowers

• Superpowers are great powers with the most influence globally

• They possess exceptionally strong military, economic, diplomatic and cultural power and dominate global events

  • Russia and the US were the dominant superpowers after World War 2

  • The United States is most often labelled as the superpower today

Are there any superpowers in the world today?

• The USA is widely considered the only current superpower

  • It has unmatched global military reach, with overseas bases on every continent and the highest defence spending in the world

  • The USA also exercises strong economic power through the dollar’s role as the global reserve currency and influence over institutions such as the IMF and World Bank

  • Its soft power is extensive, driven by global media, culture, technology firms and diplomatic leadership

• China is often described as a potential or emerging superpower, rather than a full one

  • While China has a large economy and growing military, its global military reach and soft power are more limited than those of the USA

  • China’s influence is strong regionally and economically, but it lacks the same level of worldwide dominance

Emerging powers

• Emerging powers are states that have seen significant growth in economic, military, diplomatic and cultural power

  • China is probably the most predominant emerging power and many argue it is a superpower 

  • The BRICS group of states are considered to be emerging powers (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa)

• Although GDP is just one way of measuring economic power, it is evident that the rate of economic growth of  BRIC nations has strengthened considerably and has overtaken the USA and the EU