Superpower

A superpower is a country that is one of the most powerful countries in the world. It is more powerful than a great power and less powerful than a hyperpower. Right now, only the United States is a superpower.[1][2] However, China may become a superpower in the future. Some say it is already one.[3][4][5][6] Others say that it will not become a superpower.[7][8]

In the years following World War II, the United States, United Kingdom and the Soviet Union were global superpowers.

But the United Kingdom decline as a superpower after the 1950s. For most of the century, the United States and Soviet Union remained a superpower until it declined in the late 1980s. After the Soviet Union split into a lot of smaller countries in 1991, it was not a superpower anymore. Russia got most of the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons but not the status of a superpower. In order to be a superpower, a country must dominate economic, cultural, and military as well as diplomatic influence.

References

  1. Kim Richard Nossal. Lonely Superpower or Unapologetic Hyperpower? Analyzing American Power in the post–Cold War Era. Biennial meeting, South African Political Studies Association, 29 June-2 July 1999. Archived from the original on 2019-05-26. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
  2. Herring, George C. (2008). From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-974377-3.
  3. Schuman, Michael (2020-10-05). "What Happens When China Leads the World". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  4. "China is not the only candidate for a 21st century superpower". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  5. "China's Inexorable Rise to Superpower Is History Repeating Itself". Bloomberg.com. 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  6. "China most likely to become sole global superpower by mid-21st Century: Mitt Romney". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  7. Parton, Charles (2019-05-27). "Today's China will never be a superpower". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  8. "China Never Was A Superpower—And It Won't Be One Anytime Soon". Hoover Institution. Retrieved 2021-01-26.