what is a superpower?
A superpower is a country with the ability to project its dominating power and influence anywhere in the world, e.g. the USA, USSR and British empire in the late 1940s
what is an emerging power?
Countries with a large role in one or more superpower characteristics and with a growing influence, they are experiencing a transition in terms of their economic structure. e.g. china, Brazil, India
what is a regional power?
they can project dominating power and influence over other countries within the continent or region. they influence other countries at a continental scale
e.g. South Africa in Africa or Saudi Arabia in the Middle East
explain the economic characteristics of a superpower
explain the political power characteristic of superpowers
explain the military power characteristic of superpowers
explain the cultural power characteristics of superpowers
cultural power includes how appealing a nation’s way of life, values and ideology are to others
this is achieved by:
- the dominance of media, they decide what music and films are played
- TNCs or migrant introducing cultural products
- imposition of viewpoint in international agreements
indicators include: global spread of music, fashion, food, language, religion
- WESTERNISATION
- the USA have the highest percentage of the world’s largest TNCs- 27%
- three record companies dominate UK music production
explain the demographic power characteristics of superpowers
explain the power of resources as a characteristic of a superpower
what is a hyperpower?
an unchallenged superpower that is dominant in all aspects of powers, examples include the USA from 1990 to 2010 and Britain from 1850 to 1910
what are the benefits and drawbacks of soft power?
benefits:
drawbacks:
give an example of soft power
UK
what are the benefits and drawbacks to hard power?
benefits:
drawbacks:
what are examples of hard power
what is smart power?
an approach that underscores the necessity of a strong military, but also invests heavily in alliances, partnerships, and institution of all levels to expand one’s influence and establish legitimacy of one’s action
- it is a combination of both hard and soft power
what is geopolitical stability?
how well different governments get on with each other
- the relationship between Putin and trump shows one of instability
what is a proxy war?
it is when you pick a side in a war, it is a war instigate by a major power which does not itself become involved, e.g. this was seen in the case of the Korean War which resulted in the division of Korea where US backed south Korea and the USSR backed North Korea
what is Neo-colonialism?
it refers to the soft power that is being used to control former colonies to ensure wealthy countries still get what they want
explain the rise of china as a potential rival to the USA’s hegemony?
explain 4 ways of in how indirect control particularly Neo-colonial control can be used to influence other countries and exert your power
1) AID- economic and political control
- the IMF and WB were set up to provide aid in the form of ‘structural adjustment programs’ to ensure countries reformed their policies to be pro-western
- much aid is also given in form of tied aid as seen in UK’s aid to India where the money had to be spent on british infrastructure and businesses
2) Military support-military control
- developing nations often rely on superpowers for military backing during times of civil war and uprising or they need to buy them weapons from e.g. USA giving Syrian rebels discounted price on guns, they want them to adopt capitalist views
3) cultural control- TNC investments
- cultural diffusion and westernisation have taken place, sport, music and the internet. many developing nations are reliant on TNCS to provide investment and jobs, otherwise they will go into extreme poverty, e.g. Coca Cola in Rajasthan
4) money lending
- developing countries often borrow money from developed ones and end up in a debtor-creditor relationship
- the UK continues to provide funding to commonwealth nations giving it ‘moral authority’
explain the G20
they are the richest 20 nations in the world, they meet to discuss global economies. this is a form of soft power.
explain how emerging countries are becoming increasingly important in global environment governance
the annual UN Climate Change conference
what are the strengths and weaknesses of the emerging nation of China
strengths:
weaknesses:
what is an import substitution economy?
altartic development, substituted anything they needed by using what they produce, favouring your own producers