View source for Social:Superpower

{{short description|State with extensive power or influence over much of the world}}

'''Superpower''' describes a [[Earth:Sovereign state|state]] or [[Social:Supranational union|supranational union]] that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to exert [[Social:Sphere of influence|influence]] or [[Social:Power projection|project power]] on a global scale.<ref name="Munro1">{{cite web |last1=Munro |first1=André |title=superpower |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/superpower |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=2 May 2023}}</ref><ref name="Mark1" >{{cite news |last=Leonard |first=Mark |date=18 February 2005 |url=http://www.cer.org.uk/articles/leonard_irish_times_18feb05.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327034443/http://www.cer.org.uk/articles/leonard_irish_times_18feb05.html |archive-date=27 March 2009 |title=Europe: the new superpower |work=Irish Times |access-date=31 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=McCormick |date=2007 |title=The European Superpower |publisher=[[Company:Palgrave Macmillan|Palgrave Macmillan]]}}</ref> This is done through the combined means of economic, military, technological, political, and cultural strength as well as diplomatic and [[Social:Soft power|soft power]] influence. Traditionally, superpowers are preeminent among the [[Social:Great power|great power]]s. While a great power state is capable of exerting its influence globally, superpowers are states so influential that no significant action can be taken by the global community without first considering the positions of the superpowers on the issue.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Munro |first1=André |title=superpower (Political Science) |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/superpower |website=britannica |access-date=13 April 2022}}</ref>

In 1944, during [[Social:World War II|World War II]], the term was first applied to the {{wipe|United States}}, the [[Place:British Empire|British Empire]], and the [[Place:Soviet Union|Soviet Union]].<ref name="The Super-Powers; The United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union—Their Responsibility for Peace. By William T. R. Fox.">{{cite journal |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/superpowers-the-united-states-britain-and-the-soviet-uniontheir-responsibility-for-peace-by-william-t-r-fox-new-york-harcourt-brace-and-company-1944-pp-162-200-the-great-decision-by-james-t-shotwell-new-york-the-macmillan-company-1944-pp-234-300/62275F7F5673D641D4FCAAAC069A5BCA |title=The Super-Powers; The United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union—Their Responsibility for Peace. By William T. R. Fox. (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. 1944. Pp. 162. $2.00.) |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=38 |issue=5 |pages=1013–1015 |publisher=cambridge.org |doi=10.2307/1949612 |jstor=1949612 |access-date=2013-09-02 |last1=Hall |first1=H. Duncan |date=October 1944}}</ref> During the [[History:Cold War|Cold War]], the British Empire dissolved, leaving the United States and the Soviet Union to dominate world affairs. At the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States became the world's sole superpower, a position sometimes referred to as that of a "hyperpower".<ref name="Time-May-28-2015">{{Cite magazine |last=Bremer |first=Ian |title=These Are the 5 Reasons Why the U.S. Remains the World's Only Superpower |url=http://time.com/3899972/us-superpower-status-military/ |magazine={{wipe|Time (magazine)}} |date=May 28, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Nossal">{{cite conference |first=Kim Richard |last=Nossal |title=Lonely Superpower or Unapologetic Hyperpower? Analyzing American Power in the post–Cold War Era |url=http://post.queensu.ca/~nossalk/papers/hyperpower.htm |conference=Biennial meeting, South African Political Studies Association, 29 June-2 July 1999 |access-date=2007-02-28 |archive-date=2012-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807084022/http://post.queensu.ca/~nossalk/papers/hyperpower.htm |url-status=dead}}<!-- subtitle: "Paper for presentation at the biennial meetings of the South African Political Studies Association Saldanha, Western Cape 29 June-2 July 1999 --></ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/fromcolonytosupe00herr <!-- quote=From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776. --> From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776] (Published 2008), by Professor George C. Herring (Professor of History at Kentucky University)</ref> Since the late [[History:2010s|2010s]] and into the [[History:2020s|2020s]], {{wipe|China}} has been described as an emerging superpower or even an established one,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-04-05 |title=The Debate - Macron in the middle? French president in China amid superpower showdown |url=https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/the-debate/20230405-macron-in-the-middle-french-president-in-china-amid-superpower-showdown |access-date=2023-04-09 |work=France 24 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Bekkevold |first=Jo Inge |title=Why China Is Not a Superpower |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/02/china-superpower-us-new-cold-war-rivalry-geopolitics/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |magazine=Foreign Policy |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Schuman |first=Michael |date=2020-10-05 |title=What Happens When China Leads the World |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/10/what-kind-superpower-will-china-be/616580/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |work=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Simon |first=Kuper |title=There are only two global superpowers left |url=https://www.ft.com/content/3e96c85c-7ef7-4e74-85dc-c924599293a0 |work=[[Social:Financial Times|Financial Times]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Eaglen |first=Mackenzie |title=It's Time to Retire the Term "Near-Peer" Competitor When It Comes to China |url=https://www.aei.org/foreign-and-defense-policy/its-time-to-retire-the-term-near-peer-competitor-when-it-comes-to-china/ |website=AEI |language=en}}</ref> as described by the United States as China exposes "the most significant challenge of any nation-state in the world to the United States".<ref name="wsj._Blinken_Backs">{{Cite web |title=Blinken Backs Tough Approach to China, Says Will Work With GOP |last1=Mauldin |first1=William |last2=Gordon |first2=Michael R. |newspaper={{wipe|The Wall Street Journal}} |date=January 20, 2021 |access-date=January 28, 2021 |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/blinken-to-address-u-s-rivalry-with-china-russia-in-senate-hearing-11611069439?mod=article_inline}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The China Threat|url=https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/counterintelligence/the-china-threat |access-date=November 22, 2021|publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=China "most consequential threat" to U.S. national security, top intelligence official says |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-worldwide-threats-hearing/ |author= Olivia Gazis, Caitlin Yilek |date=March 8, 2023 |access-date=November 22, 2021|publisher=CBS News}}</ref>

== Terminology and origin ==
[[File:Superpower map 1945.png|thumb|upright 1.3|A world map in 1945. According to William T. R. Fox, the {{wipe|United States}} (blue), the Soviet Union (red), and the British Empire ([[Teal|teal]]) were superpowers.]]
[[File:American bases worldwide.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Countries with the military bases and facilities of the present sole superpower – the United States]]
No agreed definition of what is a superpower exists and may differ between sources.<ref name="Nossal"/> However, a fundamental characteristic that is consistent with all definitions of a superpower is a nation or state that has mastered the seven dimensions of state power, namely [[Earth:Geography|geography]], [[Social:Population|population]], economy, resources, military, diplomacy, and [[Social:National identity|national identity]].<ref>''The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers'' (1987) written by Paul Kennedy</ref>

The term was first used to describe nations with greater than [[Social:Great power|great power]] status as early as 1944, but only gained its specific meaning with regard to the {{wipe|United States}} and the [[Place:Soviet Union|Soviet Union]] after [[Social:World War II|World War II]]. This was because the United States and the Soviet Union had proved themselves to be capable of casting great influence in global politics and military dominance. The term in its current political meaning was coined by Dutch-American geostrategist Nicholas Spykman in a series of lectures in 1943 about the potential shape of a new post-war world order. This formed the foundation for the book ''The Geography of the Peace'', which referred primarily to the unmatched maritime global supremacy of the British Empire and the United States as essential for peace and prosperity in the world.

A year later, in 1944, William T. R. Fox, an American foreign policy professor, elaborated on the concept in the book ''The Superpowers: The United States, Britain and the Soviet Union — Their Responsibility for Peace'' which spoke of the global reach of a super-empowered nation.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |last=Dellios |first=Rosita |url=http://www.casaasia.es/pdf/9200595422AM1127202862621.pdf |title=China: The 21st Century Superpower? |website=Casa Asia |access-date=2010-08-27}}</ref> Fox used the word superpower to identify a new category of power able to occupy the highest status in a world in which—as the war then raging demonstrated—states could challenge and fight each other on a global scale. According to him, at that moment, there were three states that were superpowers, namely the United States, the Soviet Union, and the {{wipe|United Kingdom}}. The [[Place:British Empire|British Empire]] was the most extensive empire in world history and considered the foremost great power, holding sway over 25% of the world's population<ref>{{cite book |first=Angus |last=Maddison |title=The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective |pages=98, 242 |publisher=OECD |location=Paris |date=2001}}</ref> and controlling about 25% of the Earth's total land area, while the United States and the Soviet Union grew in power before and during World War II. The UK would face serious political, financial, and colonial issues after World War II that left it unable to match Soviet or American power. Ultimately, Britain's empire would gradually dissolve over the course of the 20th century, sharply reducing its global power projection.

According to Lyman Miller, "[t]he basic components of superpower stature may be measured along four axes of power: military, economic, political, and cultural (or what political scientist Joseph Nye has termed "[[Social:Soft power|soft power]]")".<ref name="stanford">{{cite web |last=Miller |first=Lyman |url=http://www.stanford.edu/group/sjir/6.1.03_miller.html |title=www.stanford.edu |publisher=stanford.edu |access-date=2010-08-27}}</ref>

In the opinion of Kim Richard Nossal of Queen's University in Canada, "generally, this term was used to signify a political community that occupied a continental-sized landmass; had a sizable population (relative at least to other major powers); a superordinate economic capacity, including ample indigenous supplies of food and natural resources; enjoyed a high degree of non-dependence on international intercourse; and, most importantly, had a well-developed nuclear capacity (eventually, normally defined as second strike capability)".<ref name="Nossal" />

In the opinion of Professor Paul Dukes, "a superpower must be able to conduct a global strategy, including the possibility of destroying the world; to command vast economic potential and influence; and to present a universal ideology". Although "many modifications may be made to this basic definition".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://abe.etailer.dpsl.net/Home/html/moreinfo.asp?bookid=536885601 |title=The Superpowers – A Short History |date=8 December 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208142349/http://abe.etailer.dpsl.net/Home/html/moreinfo.asp?bookid=536885601 |archive-date=8 December 2008}}</ref> According to Professor June Teufel Dreyer, "[a] superpower must be able to project its power, soft and hard, globally".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fpri.org/docs/media/FN1205-Ch-dreyer.pdf |title=PDF Version - Foreign Policy Research Institute |publisher=www.fpri.org |access-date=2015-05-31}}</ref> In his book ''Superpower: Three Choices for America's Role in the World'', Dr. Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, argues that a superpower is "a country that can exert enough military, political, and economic power to persuade nations in every region of the world to take important actions they would not otherwise take".<ref>Bremmer, Ian. 2015. [http://www.ianbremmer.com/book/superpower-three-choices-america%E2%80%99s-role-world] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429014943/http://www.ianbremmer.com/book/superpower-three-choices-america%E2%80%99s-role-world|date=2018-04-29}} Portfolio (Penguin Group): New York.</ref>

Apart from its common denotation of the foremost post-WWII states, the term ''superpower'' has colloquially been applied by some authors retrospectively to describe various preeminent ancient great empires or medieval great powers, in works such as Channel 5 (UK)'s documentary ''Rome: The World's First Superpower'' or the reference in ''The New Cambridge Medieval History'' to "the other superpower, Sasanian Persia".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cambridge |title=The New Cambridge Medieval History |volume=1: C.500-c.700 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JcmwuoTsKO0C&pg=PA323 |page=323 |publisher={{wipe|Cambridge University Press}} |date=1995 |isbn=9780521362917 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

=== Cold War ===
{{main|History:Cold War}}
{{synthesis|section|talksection=BE sourcing|date=March 2019}}
[[File:Cold War Map 1980.svg|thumb|This map shows two global spheres during the Cold War in 1980:
{{legend|#000099|<small>NATO member states</small>}}
{{legend|#6666ff|<small>Other NATO and United States allies</small>}}
<span style="color:blue"><small>'''×'''</small></span> Anti-communist guerrillas
{{legend|#ff0000|<small>[[Organization:Warsaw Pact|Warsaw Pact]] member states</small>}}
{{legend|#ff6666|<small>Socialist states allied with the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact</small>}}
{{legend|#ffcccc|<small>Other allies of the Soviet Union</small>}}
<span style="color:red"><small>'''×'''</small></span> Communist guerrillas
{{legend|#ffcc33|<small>Socialist states not allied with the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact</small>}}
{{legend|#ccccff|<small>Neutral nations</small>}}
<span style="color:green"><small>'''×'''</small></span> Other conflicts]]
[[File:Soviet Union United States Locator.png|thumb|The two superpowers of the Cold War. In green the Soviet Union, in orange the {{wipe|United States}}.]]
[[File:Yalta Conference 1945 Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt (cropped 4-3).jpg|thumb|Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and General Secretary {{wipe|Joseph Stalin}}, meeting at the Yalta Conference in Crimea in February 1945, near the end of World War II]]
The 1956 Suez Crisis suggested that [[Place:British Empire|Britain]], financially weakened by two world wars, could not then pursue its foreign policy objectives on an equal footing with the new superpowers without sacrificing [[Finance:Convertibility|convertibility]] of its [[Finance:Reserve currency|reserve currency]] as a central goal of policy.<ref>Adam Klug and Gregor W. Smith, 'Suez and Sterling', ''Explorations in Economic History'', Vol. 36, No. 3 (July 1999), pp. 181–203.</ref> As the majority of World War II had been fought far from its national boundaries, the United States had not suffered the industrial destruction nor massive civilian casualties that marked the wartime situation of the countries in [[Earth:Europe|Europe]] or [[Earth:Asia|Asia]]. The war had reinforced the position of the United States as the world's largest long-term creditor nation<ref>"Getting Serious About the Twin Deficits "by Author: Menzie D. Chinn - September 2005 by Council on Foreign Relations Press [http://www.cfr.org/economics/getting-serious-twin-deficits/p8933] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402083705/http://www.cfr.org/economics/getting-serious-twin-deficits/p8933|date=2012-04-02}}</ref> and its principal supplier of goods; moreover, it had built up a strong industrial and technological infrastructure that had greatly advanced its military strength into a primary position on the global stage.<ref>[http://www.oldenburger.us/gary/docs/TheColdWar.htm The Cold War: The Geography of Containment] Gary E. Oldenburger by Oldenburger Independent Studies; December 2002</ref> Despite attempts to create multinational coalitions or legislative bodies (such as the {{wipe|United Nations}}), it became increasingly clear that the superpowers had very different visions about what the post-war world ought to look like and after the withdrawal of British aid to Greece in 1947, the United States took the lead in containing Soviet expansion in the [[History:Cold War|Cold War]].<ref>Robert Frazier, 'Did Britain Start the Cold War? Bevin and the Truman Doctrine', ''Historical Journal'', Vol. 27, No. 3 (Sep., 1984), pp. 715–727.</ref>

The two countries opposed each other ideologically, politically, militarily, and economically. The Soviet Union promoted the ideology of [[Social:Marxism–Leninism|Marxism–Leninism]], [[Social:Planned economy|planned economy]], and a [[Social:One-party state|one-party state]] whilst the United States promoted the ideologies of [[Social:Liberal democracy|liberal democracy]] and the [[Social:Free market|free market]] in a capitalist [[Finance:Market economy|market economy]]. This was reflected in the [[Organization:Warsaw Pact|Warsaw Pact]] and NATO military alliances, respectively, as most of Europe became aligned with either the United States or the Soviet Union. These alliances implied that these two nations were part of an emerging bipolar world, in contrast with a previously multipolar world. {{Citation needed|date=August 2008}}

The idea that the Cold War period revolved around only two blocs, or even only two nations, has been challenged by some scholars in the post–Cold War era, who have noted that the bipolar world only exists if one ignores all of the various movements and conflicts that occurred without influence from either of the two superpowers.<ref>[http://www.signalalpha.com/Cold_War.html Conflicts of Superpower] by Signal Alpha News Achieve Press 2005</ref> Additionally, much of the conflict between the superpowers was fought in [[Social:Proxy war|proxy war]]s, which more often than not involved issues more complex than the standard Cold War oppositions.<ref>[https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/fordham.htm Economic Interests, Party, and Ideology in Early Cold War Era U.S. Foreign Policy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928145126/https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/fordham.htm |date=2012-09-28 }} Benjamin O. Fordham by World Peace Foundation; Massachusetts Institute of Technology April 1998</ref>

After the Soviet Union disintegrated in the early 1990s, the term hyperpower began to be applied to the United States as the sole remaining superpower of the Cold War era.<ref name="Nossal"/> This term, popularized by French foreign minister Hubert Védrine in the late 1990s, is controversial and the validity of classifying the United States in this way is disputed. One notable opponent to this theory is Samuel P. Huntington, who rejects this theory in favor of a multipolar [[Social:Balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]]. Other international relations theorists such as [[Biography:Henry Kissinger|Henry Kissinger]] theorize that because the threat of the Soviet Union no longer exists to formerly American-dominated regions such as Western Europe and Japan, American influence is only declining since the end of the Cold War because such regions no longer need protection or have necessarily similar foreign policies as the United States.<ref>Henry Kissinger, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=HhfceQZ3pmoC Diplomacy]'', pp. 24, 26</ref>

The Soviet Union and the United States fulfilled the superpower criteria in the following ways:
{{clear}}
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!
!{{flagicon|Soviet Union}} Soviet Union
!{{flagicon|United States}} United States
|-
!Demography
|Had a population of 286.7 million in 1989, the third largest on Earth behind China and India.<ref name="USLOCstudies">{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+su0006) |title=Library of Congress Country Studies |publisher=Lcweb2.loc.gov |access-date=2010-08-27}}</ref>
|Had a population of 248.7 million in 1990, at that time the fourth largest on Earth behind China, India, and the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/censusdata/table-2.pdf |title=www.census.gov |access-date=2010-08-27}}</ref>
|-
!Geography
|Largest state in the world (actually, a [[Social:Federation|federal]] [[Social:Superstate|superstate]]), with a surface area of {{convert|22,270,000|km²|sqmi|abbr=on}}.<ref name="USLOCstudies"/>
|Third or fourth largest country in the world, with an area of {{convert|9,630,000|km²|sqmi|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-largest-countries-in-the-world-the-biggest-nations-as-determined-by-total-land-area.html |title=The Largest Countries In The World |format=PDF |access-date=2019-11-08}}</ref>

|-
! rowspan="8" |Economy
|GNP of $2.7 trillion in 1990 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|2.7|1990|r=1}} trillion in {{Inflation-year|US}}). 
|GNP of $5.2 trillion in 1990 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|5.2|1990|r=1}} trillion in {{Inflation-year|US}}). 
|-
|Second largest economy in the world.<ref name="cia1990">{{cite web |title=1990 CIA World Factbook |url=http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/wofact90/world12.txt |access-date=2009-10-12 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}</ref> 
|Largest economy in the world.<ref name="cia1990" /> 
|-
|Five-year plans used to accomplish economic goals, which resulted in shortages, although more so during the [[Biography:Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] and {{wipe|Joseph Stalin}} eras.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://necrometrics.com/20c5m.htm#RCW |title=Twentieth Century Atlas – Death Tolls |website=necrometrics.com |access-date=2017-12-12}}</ref>
|Capitalist [[Finance:Market economy|market economic theory]] based on [[Finance:Supply and demand|supply and demand]] in which production was determined by customers' demands, although it also included rising income inequality since 1979.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stone |first1=C. |last2=Shaw |first2=H. |last3=Trisi |first3=D. |last4=Sherman |first4=A. |title=A Guide to Statistics on Historical Trends in Income Inequality |url=http://www.cbpp.org/files/11-28-11pov.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331123409/http://www.cbpp.org/files/11-28-11pov.pdf |archive-date=31 March 2015 |access-date=2 October 2012 |publisher=Center on Budget and Policy Priorities |pages=7–11}}</ref> 
|-
|Enormous mineral, energy resources, and fuel supply. 
|Enormous [[Finance:Industrialisation|industrial]] base and a large and modernized farming industry.
|-
|Generally self-sufficient, using a minimal amount of imports, although it suffered resource inadequacies such as in agriculture.
|Large volume of imports and exports.
|-
|Large-scale industrial production directed by centralised state organs. 
|Large resources of minerals, energy resources, metals, and timber. Home to a multitude of the largest global [[Company:Corporation|corporation]]s. {{wipe|United States dollar}} served as the dominant world [[Finance:Reserve currency|reserve currency]] under [[Finance:Bretton Woods Conference|Bretton Woods Conference]].
|-
|Economic benefits such as guaranteed employment, free healthcare, and free education are provided to all levels of society. Soviet life expectancy and certain indicators of healthcare performance often fell below the standards of the most developed Western European states.
|High [[Finance:Standard of living|standard of living]] with accessibility to many manufactured goods.
|-
|Economy tied to Central and Eastern-European satellite states.
|Allied with G7 major economies. Supported allied countries' economies via such programmes as the Marshall Plan.
|-
! rowspan="6" |Politics
|Strong Marxist–Leninist state, organized under a quasi-[[Social:Parliamentary system|parliamentary system]] with strong [[Social:Fusion of powers|fusion of powers]], with checks and balances for both the executive and the judiciary primarily based on commanding the legislature's confidence. 
|Strong [[Philosophy:Liberalism|liberal]] [[Social:Liberal democracy|democratic]] constitutional republic, organized under a [[Social:Presidential system|presidential system]] with strong [[Philosophy:Separation of powers|separation of powers]], with a complicated system of checks and balances exercised between the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. 
|-
|The Supreme Soviet enjoyed ''de facto'' [[Social:Parliamentary sovereignty|parliamentary sovereignty]] despite a written constitution and nominal [[Social:Federation|federalism]] as no court was vested with judicial review.
|The legislative powers of the United States Congress were limited both by the written constitution and by the [[Social:Federation|federal]] nature of the national government. Despite the lack of a dedicated Constitutional Court, judicial review of laws has been vested in the Supreme Court by judicial precedent.
|-
|As no formal office of President has existed, the standing legislature also served as a collective [[Social:Head of state|head of state]].
|The President was both [[Social:Head of state|head of state]] and [[Social:Head of government|head of government]] and his cabinet was not required to command congressional confidence.
|-
|The only national-level popular elections were the quinquennial elections to the Supreme Soviet which were yes-or-no votes on candidates handpicked beforehand. Radical government reforms two years before the nation's collapse introduced competitive elections, a directly elected executive President, and a Constitutional Court, both having rudimentary [[Philosophy:Separation of powers|separation of powers]] from the existing components of the system.
|The only national popular elections were the biennial congressional elections. However, the quadrennial presidential election has ''de facto'' changed from an indirect election by an Electoral College into a direct, although [[Social:Weighted voting|weighted]], popular election.
|-
|One-party system with the Communist Party having an institutionalized monopoly of power. 
|Informal [[Social:Two-party system|two-party system]] between Democrats and Republicans, although other parties have participated in the elections.
|-
|Permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council along with one ally (China){{Dubious|reason=Before the Sino-Soviet split?|date=November 2023}}.
|Permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council along with two allies (France and the United Kingdom).
|-
! rowspan="2" |Foreign relations
|Strong ties with [[Place:Central and Eastern Europe|Central and Eastern Europe]], some countries in Latin America, [[Place:Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]], [[Earth:Africa|Africa]], Syria, Iraq (until 1991), and Cuba. Also had a Sino-Soviet alliance with China up until 1961.
|Strong ties with [[Place:Western Europe|Western Europe]], countries in Latin America, [[Place:Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]], [[Earth:Africa|Africa]], the [[Organization:Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth of Nations]], several [[Place:East Asia|East Asia]]n and Middle Eastern countries, and Israel. 
|-
|Supported Marxist–Leninist countries around the world.
|Supported [[Social:Liberal democracy|liberal democracies]] and occasionally anti-communist dictatorships around the world.
|-
! rowspan="7" |Military
|Possessed largest armed forces and air force in the world and the second largest navy.
|Highest [[Finance:List of countries by military expenditures|military expenditure]] in the world, with the world's largest navy, surpassing the next 13 largest navies combined<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2009-01-01/balanced-strategy |title=A Balanced Strategy: Reprogramming the Pentagon or a New Age |last=Gates |first=Robert M. |date=26 February 2014 |magazine=Foreign Affairs |publisher=Council On Foreign Relations |access-date=31 May 2015}}</ref><ref name="Defense Analysis; Dec2001, Vol. 17 Issue 3, p259-265">Weighing the US Navy Defense & Security Analysis, Volume 17, Issue 3 December 2001, pages 259–265</ref> and an army and air force rivaled only by that of the Soviet Union.
|-
|Possessed bases around the world.
|Possessed bases around the world, particularly in an incomplete ring bordering the Warsaw Pact to the West, South, and East.
|-
|Held the world's largest stockpile of nuclear weapons for the second half of the Cold War.
|Largest [[Engineering:Nuclear weapon|nuclear arsenal]] in the world during the first half of the Cold War.
|-
|Founder of [[Organization:Warsaw Pact|Warsaw Pact]] with satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe.
|Powerful military allies in Western Europe with their own nuclear capabilities.
|-
|Global intelligence network with the GRU and the First Chief Directorate of the KGB.
|Global intelligence networks with the Intelligence Community.
|-
|Ties with paramilitary and communist guerrilla groups in the developing world, such as PLAN in Namibia, PKI in Indonesia, FSLN in Nicaragua.
|Ties with paramilitary and anti-communist guerrilla groups in the developing world, such as the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, UNITA in Angola, Contras in Nicaragua.
|-
|Large [[Engineering:Arms industry|arms industry]] production with global distribution.
|Large armament production through [[Engineering:Arms industry|defense contractors]], along with its developed allies for the global market.
|-
!Media
|Constitutional guarantees for [[Philosophy:Freedom of speech|freedom of speech]] and freedom of the press were made conditional both for fulfilling one's citizen's duties and for conformity with the interests of the government. Press explicitly controlled and censored. Promoted through the use of propaganda its ideal that workers of all countries should unite to overthrow capitalist society and what they called the [[Social:Liberal democracy#Dictatorship of the bourgeoisie|dictatorship of the bourgeoisie]] and replace it with a socialist society where all means of production are publicly owned.
|Maintained constitutional guarantees for [[Philosophy:Freedom of speech|freedom of speech]] and freedom of the press, although the ongoing Cold War did lead to a degree of censorship, particularly during the Vietnam War and the Second Red Scare, when censorship was the heaviest.
|-
!Culture
|Rich tradition in literature, film, classical music, and ballet. Significant cultural influence on [[Earth:List of socialist states#Marxist–Leninist states|socialist states]] in Central & Eastern Europe and [[Social:Bamboo Curtain|Asia]].
|Rich tradition and worldwide cultural influence in music, literature, film, television, cuisine, art, and fashion.
|}

=== Post-Cold War era ===
[[File:NYSE127.jpg|thumb|The [[Company:New York Stock Exchange|New York Stock Exchange]] trading floor. Economic power such as a large nominal GDP and a world reserve currency are important factors in the projection of hard power.]]
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 which ended the [[History:Cold War|Cold War]], the [[History:Post–Cold War era|post–Cold War]] world has in the past been considered by some to be a unipolar world,<ref name="Krauthammer1">Charles Krauthammer, [https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/1991-02-01/unipolar-moment The Unipolar Moment], ''Foreign Policy Magazine'' (1991).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gaikoforum.com/P03_19_122.pdf |title=www.gaikoforum.com |access-date=2010-08-27}}</ref> with the {{wipe|United States}} as the world's sole remaining superpower.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1217752.stm Country profile: United States of America], BBC News. Retrieved March 11, 2007.</ref> In 1999, political scientist and author Samuel P. Huntington wrote: "The United States, of course, is the sole state with preeminence in every domain of power – economic, military, diplomatic, ideological, technological, and cultural – with the reach and capabilities to promote its interests in virtually every part of the world". However, Huntington rejected the claim that the world was unipolar, arguing: "There is now only one superpower. But that does not mean that the world is unipolar", describing it instead as "a strange hybrid, a uni-multipolar system with one superpower and several major powers". He further wrote that "Washington is blind to the fact that it no longer enjoys the dominance it had at the end of the Cold War. It must relearn the game of international politics as a major power, not a superpower, and make compromises".<ref name="affairs">{{cite web|url=http://www-stage.foreignaffairs.org/19990301faessay966/samuel-p-huntington/the-lonely-superpower.html|title=The Lonely Superpower|work=Foreign Affairs|first=Samuel P.|last=Huntington|date=27 April 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427150630/http://www-stage.foreignaffairs.org/19990301faessay966/samuel-p-huntington/the-lonely-superpower.html|archive-date=27 April 2006}}</ref>

Experts argue that this older single-superpower assessment of global politics is too simplified, in part because of the difficulty in classifying the [[Social:European Union|European Union]] at its current stage of development. Others argue that the notion of a superpower is outdated, considering complex global economic interdependencies and propose that the world is multipolar.<ref name="The Global list (No superpower)">{{cite web|url=http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/printStoryId.aspx?StoryId=3553|title=The Multipolar World Vs. The Superpower|work=The Globalist|first=Sherle|last=Schwenninger|date=December 5, 2003|access-date=2006-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613215234/http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/printStoryId.aspx?StoryId=3553 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=2006-06-13}}</ref><ref name="Washington Post (No superpower)">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/03/AR2006030302055.html|title=The Multipolar Unilateralist|access-date=2006-06-10 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=5 March 2006 |first=David |last=Von Drehle}}</ref><ref name="Globalpolicy.org (No superpower)">{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/challenges/competitors/2005/0315chinapower.htm|title=No Longer the "Lone" Superpower|access-date=2006-06-11}}</ref><ref name="A Times (No superpower)">{{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED05Ak01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030406200825/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED05Ak01.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=April 6, 2003|title=The war that may end the age of superpower |work=Asia Times|author=Henry C K Liu|date=April 5, 2003|access-date=2006-06-11}}</ref>

A 2012 report by the [[Organization:National Intelligence Council|National Intelligence Council]] predicted that the United States superpower status will have eroded to merely being first among equals by 2030, but that it would remain highest among the world's most powerful countries because of its influence in many different fields and global connections that the great regional powers of the time would not match.{{cn|date=August 2023}} Additionally, some experts have suggested the possibility of the United States losing its superpower status completely in the future, citing speculation of its decline in power relative to the rest of the world, economic hardships, a declining dollar, Cold War allies becoming less dependent on the United States, and the emergence of future powers around the world.<ref name="uiuc-superpower">Unger J (2008), [http://news.illinois.edu/news/08/0508superpower.html U.S. no longer superpower, now a besieged global power, scholars say] ''University of Illinois''</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Almond |first=Steve |url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/22/american_decline |title=Seizing American supremacy |work=Salon.com |date=2007-08-22 |access-date=2010-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Leonardo |last=Martinez-Diaz |url=http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2007/0428us_economics_martinez-diaz.aspx |title=U.S.: A Losing Superpower? |publisher=Brookings.edu |date=2007-04-28 |access-date=2010-08-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602232730/http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2007/0428us_economics_martinez-diaz.aspx |archive-date=2010-06-02}}</ref>

According to a [[Organization:RAND Corporation|RAND Corporation]] paper by American diplomat James Dobbins, Professor Howard J. Shatz, and policy analyst Ali Wyne, {{wipe|Russia}} in the breakdown of a disintegrating unipolar world order, whilst not a peer competitor to the United States, would still remain a player and a potential [[Social:Rogue state|rogue state]] that would undermine global affairs. The West could contain Russia with methods like those employed during the Cold War with the Soviet Union, though this would be tested by Russia's overt and covert efforts to destabilize Western alliances and political systems. On the other hand, China is a peer competitor to the United States that cannot be contained, and will be a far more challenging entity for the West to confront. The authors state that China's military dominance in the Asia-Pacific is already eroding American influence at a rapid pace, and the costs for the US to defend its interests there will continue to rise. Moreover, China's economic influence has already broken out of its regional confines long ago and is on track to directly contest the US role as the center for economic trade and commerce.<ref name="RAND Corporation-October-2018">{{Cite report|author1=Dobbins, James |author2=Shatz, Howard |author3=Wyne, Ali |title=Russia Is a Rogue, Not a Peer; China Is a Peer, Not a Rogue: Different Challenges, Different Responses|url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE310.html|publisher=[[Organization:RAND Corporation|RAND Corporation]]|date=2018}}</ref><ref name="Sage Journals-January-16-2018">{{Cite journal|author1=Maher, Paul J |author2=Igou, Eric R |author3=van Tilburg, Wijnand A.P. |title=Brexit, Trump, and the Polarizing Effect of Disillusionment|journal=Social Psychological and Personality Science|volume=9|issue=2|pages=205–213|publisher=Sage Journals|date= January 16, 2018|doi=10.1177/1948550617750737|s2cid=149195975|url=https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/brexit-trump-and-the-polarizing-effect-of-disillusionment(5e1bccd1-d580-461b-abe3-cbaceafd5a1d).html}}</ref><ref name="Deutsche Welle-September-18-2018">{{Cite news|author=Janjevic, Darko |title=Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban's special relationship|url=https://www.dw.com/en/vladimir-putin-and-viktor-orbans-special-relationship/a-45512712|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date= September 18, 2018}}</ref><ref name="The Conversation-March-22-2019">{{Cite news|author=King, Winnie |title=Italy joins China's Belt and Road Initiative – here's how it exposes cracks in Europe and the G7|url=https://theconversation.com/italy-joins-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-heres-how-it-exposes-cracks-in-europe-and-the-g7-114039|publisher=The Conversation|date= March 22, 2019}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:1 AD to 2003 AD Historical Trends in global distribution of GDP China India Western Europe USA Middle East.png|thumb|Major economies from 1 AD to 2003 AD, according to Angus Maddison's estimates<ref>Data table in Maddison A (2007), Contours of the World Economy I-2030AD, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199227204}}</ref>]]
There have been many attempts by historians to apply the term superpower retrospectively, and sometimes very loosely, to a variety of entities in the past. Recognition by historians of these older states as superpowers may focus on various superlative traits exhibited by them. The first states to actually exert influence and project their power at a global level (and not just regionally) and to be in fact superpowers in the modern sense of the concept were the states of the Iberian peninsula, namely the [[History:Kingdom of Portugal|Kingdom of Portugal]] and Habsburg Spain,<ref>Kamen, H., ''Spain's Road To Empire: The Making Of A World Power, 1492–1763'', 2003, Penguin, 640p.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The history of the Spanish Armada |url=https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/spanish-armada-history-causes-timeline |publisher=Royal Museums Greenwich |access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref> which inaugurated the European overseas expansion in the 16th century, establishing vast colonial empires. The signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas, establishing the division of the lands discovered by Portugal and Spain, divided the world between these superpowers until 1580, when there was the Iberian Union between the crowns of the monarchies of these nations.

The [[Place:Portuguese Empire|Portuguese Empire]] was replaced by the [[Place:Dutch Empire|Dutch Empire]], that made much of the 17th century part of the Dutch Golden Age. Soon, the Spanish and Dutch Empires were joined by the French colonial Empire from 1643 until 1815<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Aldrich |title=Greater France: A History of French Overseas Expansion |date=1996 |page=304}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Melvin E. |editor-last=Page |title=Colonialism: An International Social, Cultural, and Political Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qFTHBoRvQbsC&pg=PA218 |year=2003 |publisher=[[Company:ABC-CLIO|ABC-CLIO]] |page=218 |isbn=9781576073353 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> from the reign of King Louis XIV until the defeat of Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars.<ref>{{cite book |first=Steven |last=Englund |title=Napoleon: A Political Life |date=2005 |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=254}}</ref> The Spanish Empire lost its superpower status to [[History:Kingdom of France|France]] after the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees (but maintained the status of Great Power until the Napoleonic Wars and the Independence of Spanish America). [[Place:First French Empire|France]] lost its superpower status after Napoleon’s defeat against the [[Place:British Empire|British]] in 1815.<ref>{{cite book |first=Steven |last=Englund |title=Napoleon: A Political Life |date=2005 |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=254}}</ref> After 1688, with the end of its Golden Age, the Dutch Empire was replaced by the [[Place:British Empire|British Empire]],<ref name="auto"/> after this country went through its Glorious Revolution in 1688 and for its pioneering role in the industrialization process in the 18th century that would lead to global [[Social:Hegemony|hegemony]] in the 19th century and early 20th century (before the [[Social:World War I|World War I]]).

Examples of ancient or historical superpowers include the [[Place:British Empire|British Empire]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clayton |first=Anthony |date=1986 |title=The British Empire as a Superpower, 1919–39 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08609-2 |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-08609-2 |isbn=978-1-349-08611-5}}</ref> Ancient Egypt,<ref>{{Cite book |last=McDonald |first=Angela |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/966861438 |title=Ancient Egypt |date=10 January 2017 |publisher=National Geographic Books |isbn=978-1-4654-5753-0 |oclc=966861438}}</ref> the [[History:Hittites|Hittite Empire]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Giusfredi |first=Federico |title=Hittite Empire |date=2016-01-11 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe265 |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Empire |pages=1–7 |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd |doi=10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe265 |isbn=9781118455074 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref> the [[History:Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian Empire]],<ref>{{Citation |title=The rise of the Neo-Assyrian empire |date=2013-12-04 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315879895-41 |work=The Ancient Near East |pages=499–520 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315879895-41 |isbn=978-1-315-87989-5 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=The Nature of Siege Warfare in the Neo-Assyrian Period |date=2019-11-13 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004413740_004 |work=Brill's Companion to Sieges in the Ancient Mediterranean |pages=35–52 |publisher=[[Company:Brill Publishers|BRILL]] |doi=10.1163/9789004413740_004 |access-date=2022-12-27|last1=Siddall |first1=Luis R. |isbn=9789004413740 |s2cid=214558514}}</ref> the Neo-Babylonian Empire,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fantalkin |first=Alexander |date=2017-12-01 |title=In Defense of Nebuchadnezzar II the Warrior |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/aofo-2017-0014 |journal=Altorientalische Forschungen |volume=44 |issue=2 |doi=10.1515/aofo-2017-0014 |s2cid=165967543 |issn=2196-6761}}</ref> the [[Place:Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Empire]],<ref>{{Citation |last=Kuhrt |first=Amélie |title=State Communications in the Persian Empire |date=2014-02-14 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199354771.003.0006 |work=State Correspondence in the Ancient World |pages=112–140 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199354771.003.0006 |isbn=978-0-19-935477-1 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref> Macedonian Empire,<ref>{{Citation |title=Alexander and his empire |date=1993-03-26 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511518539.006 |work=Conquest and Empire |pages=229–258 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511518539.006 |isbn=9780521406796 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref> the Han Empire,<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Lockard |first=Craig A. |date=2013-02-04 |title=Chinese emigration to 1948 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm130 |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration |doi=10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm130|isbn=9781444334890}}</ref> the Roman Empire,<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2010-03-01 |title=How Rome fell: death of a superpower |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/choice.47-3968 |journal=Choice Reviews Online |volume=47 |issue=7 |pages=47–3968-47-3968 |doi=10.5860/choice.47-3968 |issn=0009-4978}}</ref> [[Place:Byzantine Empire|the Byzantine Empire]], the Carthaginian Empire,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Miles |first=Richard |date=2011 |title=Carthage: A Mediterranean Superpower |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/hsp.2011.0059 |journal=Historically Speaking |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=35–37 |doi=10.1353/hsp.2011.0059 |s2cid=162227777 |issn=1944-6438}}</ref> the Sasanid Empire, the [[History:Maurya Empire|Maurya Empire]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kulke |first1=Hermann |last2=Rothermund |first2=Dietmar |date=2004-08-26 |title=A History of India |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203391266 |doi=10.4324/9780203391266 |isbn=9781134331918}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raza |first=Ahmed |date=2021-08-16 |title=Vajpayee: The Years that Changed India ShaktiSinha, Vajpayee: The Years that Changed India, Penguin/Vintage Books, New Delhi, 2020, 368 pp., Rs.599.00 (Hardback), {{text|ISBN:}} 9780670093441 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09700161.2021.1965348 |journal=Strategic Analysis |volume=45 |issue=5 |pages=444–445 |doi=10.1080/09700161.2021.1965348 |s2cid=243093620 |issn=0970-0161}}</ref> the [[History:Gupta Empire|Gupta Empire]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sinha |first=Kanad |title=State, Power and Legitimacy: The Gupta Kingdom |publisher=Primus Books |year=2019 |isbn=9789352902798}}</ref> the [[Place:Russian Empire|Russian Empire]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neumann |first=Iver B |date=2008-06-01 |title=Russia as a great power, 1815–2007 |journal=Journal of International Relations and Development |language=en |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=128–151 |doi=10.1057/jird.2008.7 |issn=1581-1980 |doi-access=free}}</ref> the Tang Empire,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lockard |first=Craig |title="Tang Civilization and the Chinese Centuries" |url=https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/services/dropoff/china_civ_temp/week06/pdfs/tangci.pdf}}</ref> the [[Place:Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad Caliphate]],<ref>{{Cite book |first=Jane |last=Burbank |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/751801141 |title=Empires in world history : power and the politics of difference |date=5 July 2011 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-15236-3 |oclc=751801141}}</ref> the Mongol Empire,<ref>{{Citation |title=Conclusion |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt183p1d6.13 |work=The Crimes of Empire |pages=241–248 |publisher=Pluto Press |doi=10.2307/j.ctt183p1d6.13 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref> the [[Place:Timurid Empire|Timurid Empire]], the [[Place:Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]],<ref>{{Cite book |author=Stone, Norman |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/986757557 |title=Turkey : a short history |date=2017 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-29299-0 |oclc=986757557}}</ref> the Habsburg Empire,<ref>{{Citation |last=Mitchell |first=A. Wess |title=The Habsburg Puzzle |date=2019-10-01 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.23943/princeton/9780691196442.003.0001 |work=The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire |pages=1–18 |publisher=Princeton University Press |doi=10.23943/princeton/9780691196442.003.0001 |isbn=9780691196442 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref> the French colonial Empire,<ref>{{Citation |last=Aldrich |first=Robert |title=The French Overseas |date=1996 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24729-5_6 |work=Greater France |pages=122–162 |place=London |publisher=Macmillan Education UK |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-24729-5_6 |isbn=978-0-333-56740-1 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=2004-03-01 |title=Colonialism: an international, social, cultural, and political encyclopedia |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/choice.41-3809 |journal=Choice Reviews Online |volume=41 |issue=7 |pages=218 |doi=10.5860/choice.41-3809 |issn=0009-4978}}</ref> the [[Place:Spanish Empire|Spanish Empire]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=H |first=Kamen |title=Spain's Road To Empire: The Making Of A World Power, 1492–1763 |pages=640p}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=The Spanish Armada |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781472582362.ch-009 |work=A History of the English-Speaking Peoples |year=1956 |publisher=Cassell & Company Ltd |doi=10.5040/9781472582362.ch-009 |isbn=978-1-4725-8236-2 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref> the [[Place:Portuguese Empire|Portuguese Empire]], the [[Place:Dutch Empire|Dutch Empire]], the [[Place:First French Empire|First French Empire]] of Napoleon,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jordan |first=David P. |date=June 2007 |title=''Napoleon: A Political Life'' . By Steven Englund. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004. Pp. xiv+575. $18.95. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/519344 |journal=The Journal of Modern History |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=438–440 |doi=10.1086/519344 |issn=0022-2801}}</ref> the [[Place:German Empire|German Empire]], [[Place:Safavid Iran|Safavid Iran]], [[Place:Afsharid Iran|Afsharid Iran]], the [[History:Parthian Empire|Parthian Empire]], Ming Empire, the Germanic Kingdoms.

According to historical statistics and research from the OECD, until the [[History:Early modern period|early modern period]], [[Place:Western Europe|Western Europe]], {{wipe|China}}, and India accounted for roughly ⅔ of the world's GDP.<ref name="Maddison 2006 656">{{cite book |last=Maddison |first=Angus |title=The World Economy - Volume 1: A Millennial Perspective and Volume 2: Historical Statistics |year=2006 |publisher=OECD Publishing by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |isbn=9789264022621 |page=656 |url=http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.asp?K=5L9ZBQKL5RLW&lang=EN&sort=sort_date%2Fd&stem=true&sf1=Title&st1=world+economy&sf3=SubjectCode&sp1=not&st4=E4+or+E5+or+P5&sf4=SubVersionCode&ds=world+economy%3B+All+Subjects%3B+&m=3&dc=26&plang=en}}</ref>

== Potential superpowers ==
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=May 2020}}
[[File:Superpower.svg|thumb|300px]]
'''Extant superpower'''
{{legend|#ffff00|{{wipe|United States}}}}
'''Potential superpowers'''—supported in varying degrees by academics
{{legend|#ff0000|{{wipe|China}}}}
{{legend|#000080|[[Social:European Union|European Union]]}}
{{legend|#00ff00 |{{wipe|India}}}}
{{legend|#ff6600|{{wipe|Russia}}}}
The term potential superpowers has been applied by scholars and other qualified commentators to the possibility of several political entities achieving superpower status in the 21st century. Due to their large markets, growing military strength, economic potential, and influence in international affairs, {{wipe|China}},<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19995218 |title=What kind of superpower could China be? |work=BBC News |date=19 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=848 |title=China as a global power |publisher=China.usc.edu |date=2007-11-13 |access-date=2010-08-27}}</ref><ref>CNN (1999). Visions of China. CNN Specials, 1999. Retrieved on 2007-03-11 from http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/asian.superpower/.</ref> the [[Social:European Union|European Union]],<ref name="Mark1" /> {{wipe|India}},<ref>Meredith, R (2008) ''The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What it Means for All of Us'', "W.W Norton and Company" {{ISBN|978-0-393-33193-6}}</ref> and {{wipe|Russia}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Russia in the 21st Century |publisher=[[Organization:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|UNC]] Press |date=February 2005 |last=Rosefielde |first=Steven |isbn=978-0-521-54529-7 |url=http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/economics/international-economics/russia-21st-century-prodigal-superpower}}</ref> are among the political entities most cited as having the potential of achieving superpower status in the 21st century. In 2020, a new [[Company:UBS|UBS]] survey found that 57% of global investors predicted that China would replace the U.S. as the world's biggest superpower by 2030.<ref>{{cite news |last=Saloway |first=Scott |title=China will replace the US as the world's biggest superpower by 2030: UBS survey |language=en |publisher=Yahoo Finance ([[Company:UBS|UBS]]) |date=24 January 2020 |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ubs-survey-china-world-superpower-185949233.html}}</ref> However, many historians, writers, and critics have expressed doubts whether any of these countries would ever emerge as a new superpower.<ref>{{cite news |last=Biswas |first=Soutik |title=Why India Will Not Become a Superpower |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-17350650 |publisher=BBC India |access-date=2012-04-29 |date=2012-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Yuanan |first=Zhang |url=http://www.worldcrunch.com/business-finance/why-china-is-still-no-superpower/china-usa-economy-superpower-confucius/c2s12860/#.UyNI_j-SxA0 |title=Why China Is Still No Superpower |access-date=2014-03-14 |date=2013-07-31}}</ref> Some political scientists and other commentators have even suggested that such countries might simply be emerging powers, as opposed to potential superpowers.<ref name="BRICS">{{cite web |url=http://www.ccs.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/China_Monitor_JUNE_2010.pdf |title=The Centre for Chinese Studies – Study of China and East Asia on the African continent |website=www.ccs.org.za |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204011005/http://www.ccs.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/China_Monitor_JUNE_2010.pdf |archive-date=2013-12-04}}</ref> The European Union has been called a "regulatory superpower" due to the Brussels effect.<ref>{{Cite web |last=dmalloy |date=2023-06-15 |title=The world's regulatory superpower is taking on a regulatory nightmare: artificial intelligence |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/the-worlds-regulatory-superpower-is-taking-on-a-regulatory-nightmare-artificial-intelligence/ |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=Atlantic Council |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=kdaponte |date=2023-05-24 |title=Meta fine shows EU is 'regulatory superpower,' Northeastern expert says |url=https://cssh.northeastern.edu/meta-fine-shows-eu-is-regulatory-superpower-northeastern-expert-says/ |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=College of Social Sciences and Humanities |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bradford |first=Anu |date=2020-03-01 |title=The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World |url=https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/books/232 |journal=Faculty Books}}</ref>

The record of such predictions has not been perfect. For example, in the 1980s, some commentators thought {{wipe|Japan}} would become a superpower due to its large GDP and high economic growth at the time.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930094406/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,967823,00.html?promoid=googlep time.com] 1988 article "Japan From Superrich To Superpower"</ref> However, [[Finance:Japanese asset price bubble|Japan's economy crashed in 1991]], creating a long period of economic slump in the country which has become known as the ''Lost Decades''.

Increasing doubts have emerged around the potential of Russia to gain superpower status given its declining economy, severe military underperformance during the invasion of Ukraine, and its loss of influence in [[Place:Central Asia|Central Asia]], a region once dominated by Moscow for centuries.<ref name="CNBC1">{{cite news |last1=Gamble |first1=Hadley |title=EU foreign policy chief dismisses Russia's superpower status, doubts Trump will pay Syria bill |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/20/eu-foreign-policy-russia-trump-syria.html |access-date=3 August 2023 |agency=CNBC |date=20 May 2017}}</ref><ref name="Krugman1">{{cite news |last1=Krugman |first1=Paul |title=View: Russia is a Potemkin superpower. The Ukrainian invasion has made that clear |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/view-russia-is-a-potemkin-superpower-the-ukrainian-invasion-has-made-that-clear/articleshow/89916470.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst |access-date=3 August 2023 |agency=The Economic Times |work=The New York Times |date=1 Mar 2022}}</ref><ref name="Von Drehle1">{{cite news |last1=Von Drehle |first1=David |title=War proves that Russia is no longer a superpower |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/15/ukraine-war-proves-russia-no-longer-a-superpower/ |access-date=3 August 2023 |agency=The Washington Post |date=15 March 2022}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* American Century
* [[Social:Indian Century|Indian Century]]
* Chinese Century
* Soviet empire
* [[Social:Middle power|Middle power]]
* [[Social:Second superpower|Second superpower]]
* [[Earth:Small power|Small power]]
* Group of Two
* [[Social:Historic recurrence|Historic recurrence]]
* [[Philosophy:International relations theory|International relations theory]]
* [[History:List of modern great powers|List of modern great powers]]
* Superpower collapse
* Superpower disengagement
}}

== References ==
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{{reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin|30em}} 
* {{cite book |last=Belt |first=Don |year=2004 |title=National Geographic |chapter=Europe's Big Gamble |pages=54–65 |title-link=National Geographic (magazine)}}
* {{cite book |last=Brzezinski |first=Zbigniew |year=1997 |title=The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |isbn=0-465-02726-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/grandchessboarda00brze_0}}
* {{cite book |last=Fox |first=William |year=1944 |title=The Super-powers: the United States, Britain, and the Soviet union—their responsibility for peace |publisher=Harcourt, Brace a. Co |}}
* Litwin Henryk, [https://www.msz.gov.pl/resource/49da65c5-9917-40de-b542-5c89751cacf6:JCR ''Central European Superpower''], ''BUM Magazine'', October 2016.
* {{cite book |last=Kamen |first=Henry |year=2003 |title=Spain's Road To Empire: The Making Of A World Power, 1492–1763 |publisher=Penguin Books}}
* {{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Paul |year=1988 |title=The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers |isbn=0-679-72019-7 |title-link=The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing }}
* {{cite book |first=John |last=McCormick, John | year=2007 |title=The European Superpower |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |}}
* {{cite book |last=Rosefielde |first=Steven |title=Russia in the 21st Century: The Prodigal Superpower |url=http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/36784/excerpt/9780521836784_excerpt.pdf |access-date=2007-10-07 |year=2005 |publisher={{wipe|Cambridge University Press}} |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=0-521-83678-6}}
* Erik Ringmar, "[https://archive.org/download/ErikRingmartheRecognitionGameSovietRussiaAgainstTheWest/ErikRingmarTheRecognitionGame.pdf The Recognition Game: Soviet Russia Against the West]," ''Cooperation & Conflict'', 37:2, 2002. pp.&nbsp;115–36. – an explanation of the relations between the superpowers in the 20th century based on the notion of recognition.
* Sicilia, David B.; Wittner, David G. ''Strands of Modernization: The Circulation of Technology and Business Practices in East Asia, 1850-1920'' (University of Toronto Press, 2021) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=57666 online review]
* {{cite book |last=Todd |first=Emanuel |year=200X |title=After the Empire – The Breakdown of the American Order |}}
* Védrine, Hubert. ''France in an Age of Globalization'', Brookings Institution Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8157-0007-5}}. 
* Li, Bo; Zheng Yin (Chinese) (2001) 5000 years of Chinese history, Inner Mongolian People's publishing corp, {{ISBN|7-204-04420-7}}. 
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{Britannica|1922499}}


[[Category:Political science terminology]]
[[Category:Political terminology]]

{{Sourceattribution|Superpower}}