Investigating superpowers: contemporary geopolitics

This article supports the study of A-level and IB Geography courses, in particular Edexcel’s Specification which includes an entire core topic devoted to superpowers (see below, Edexcel A-level Topic 7 (Superpowers)). Further research links are included throughout in the form of news stories which appeared in the Financial Times during 2020. They help illustrate in greater detail some of the main ideas, concepts and processes which are pertinent to the study of superpowers.

What are superpowers? How have they changed over time? 

• Geopolitical power stems from a range of human and physical of characteristics of superpowers.

• Patterns of power change over time and can be uni-, bi- or multi-polar.

• Emerging powers vary in their influence on people and the physical environment, which can change rapidly over time.

What are the impacts of superpowers on the global economy, political systems and the physical environment?

• Superpowers have a significant influence over the global economic system.

• Superpowers and emerging nations play a key role in international decision-making concerning people and the physical environment.

• Global concerns about the physical environment are disproportionately influenced by superpower actions.

What spheres of influence are contested by superpowers? What are the implications of this?

• Global influence is contested in a number of different economic, environmental and political spheres.

• Developing nations have evolving relationships with superpowers with consequences for people and the physical environment.

• Existing superpowers face ongoing economic restructuring, which challenges their power.

Key terms

Superpower  

A state that projects well-above-average power and influence on a truly global scale using diverse strategies. 

Bi-polar world  

When there are two competing superpowers.

Emerging power  

States whose economic, political and perhaps military or cultural influence is already large and/or has grown greatly since the 1990s. 

Foreign direct investment  

A financial injection delivered by a transnational corporation (TNC) into a foreign nation’s economy.

Hard power  

Getting your own way through use of punitive military or economic force. 

Hegemony  

The means by which a major power like the USA builds a global consensus in support of its own dominance, thus becoming a hegemonic power (for instance, using the ‘soft power’ of its media).

Multi-polar world  

When there are many competing superpowers and emerging powers each with different regional power bases.

Neo-colonialism  

When one state exerts a strong influence over another state’s development or freedom to act on the global political stage. The dominant state uses diverse persuasive means to achieve this, such as lending, investment, media or diplomacy.

Regional power  

States that are viewed as powerful mainly in a continental context, for example Australia, South Africa, Nigeria.

Soft power  

Non-forceful means by which a superpower maintains a worldwide ‘status quo’ in support of its own continued dominance, such as control or manipulation of global media.

Sphere of influence  

The geographical area surrounding a country, over which its government aims to have some control.  This can be achieved through the direct colonisation of territories, or via indirect means e.g. military alliances, trade, aid and diplomacy.

1. Which world states are seen as superpowers, and why?

Until relatively recently, the USA was widely viewed as the world's only true superpower.  The geopolitically bi-polar world of the Cold War era ended in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union (a communist alliance of eastern European countries which had been centred on Russia). This left the USA standing alone as an unchallenged hegemonic power.  During the last decade, however, China has arguably achieved superpower status too - which makes the recent growing political tension between Donald Trump's US administration and Xi Jinping's Chinese government an issue of real global concern.

Alongside these two great powers, other geopolitical ‘heavyweights’ can be identified, although it may be more correct to call them emerging powers, regional powers or (in the case of European countries) ‘ex-superpowers’.

• The Russian Federation remains a formidable world power under the leadership of Vladimir Putin. In recent years, Russia’s government has behaved in an increasingly antagonistic away towards the USA and European states, notably so with the annexation of Crimea, previously part of Ukraine, in 2014. Russia is the only state with nuclear capabilities rivalling those of the USA (a legacy of the Cold War).

• Brazil and India are both emerging economies with an important role in global systems.  They are the world's eighth largest and sixth largest economies respectively; transnational corporations (TNCs) domiciled in both countries have invested widely across Africa.  Along with Russia and China, Brazil and India are sometimes referred to as the BRIC group of countries.  The acronym ‘BRIC’ was first used by Jim O’Neill in 2001 to highlight the growing geographical significance of all four countries (collectively, they are home to almost half of the world’s population and account for more than one-quarter of global economic output). 

• Japan is the world's third-largest economy. It is culturally influential too but lacks military might as a legacy of demilitarization after the Second World War ended. 

• The UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, along with several other smaller European nations, were major world powers in previous centuries. Even today, they command disproportionate power and influence on the global stage. The UK and France in particular remain formidable military powers.  One view is that European countries are able to rival the influence of the USA and China by working together as members of the European Union, thereby giving rise to a multi-polar world order.

Brazil

Incomes in Brazil have risen substantially in recent years, with over 100 million people – more than half the population - now designated as ‘new middle class’.  Brazil’s newfound wealth derives in part from the growing global reach of its industries. Brazilian music and art are an important part of global culture.

Russia

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia lost much of its global influence.  Some status has since been regained on account of Russia’s strategic control of oil and gas supplies.  Fuel sales account for around one-third of the country’s GDP, though wealth derived from sales of finite natural resources is not a long-term sustainable growth pathway.  Russia is therefore actively forging business partnerships with resource-rich African countries and its own ex-Soviet neighbours.

India

India was home to 1.35 billion people in 2019: that’s more than one-sixth of the whole world’s population!  It is a ‘two-speed society’ as half its population still live in extreme poverty, yet India is also home to more than 100 billionaires (US$).  One source of this wealth is Indian TNCs such as Tata. India is Africa’s third-largest source of FDI.

China

By one measure, China is the world’s largest economy and the lead exporter of manufactured goods.  It projects its enormous power in different ways having steadily built up trade relationships throughout the world since 1978, most recently through the Belt and Road Initiative, a global development plan involving Chinese lending to over 70 developing and emerging countries.

Figure 1 Analysing the characteristics of a superpower state