A superpower is a sovereign state or supranational union that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to exert influence and project power on a global scale. Although there are no formal, universally accepted criteria, superpower status is generally achieved by combining hard power (economic means, military prowess, and technology) and soft power (political persuasion, cultural influence, and diplomacy). While a great power can exert its influence globally, superpowers are the ones so impactful that no significant action can be taken by the global community without first considering their positions. In this sense, superpowers are preeminent among the great powers; more narrowly, the term may be applied in specific contexts, such as energy superpower, economic superpower, or military superpower.
The term was coined in 1944 towards the end of World War II, referring to the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Following the fallout of the Suez Canal Crisis and a period of rapid decolonization, the British Empire saw a steep decline, leaving the United States and the Soviet Union as the preeminent superpowers of the Cold War. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States emerged as the sole dominant power across multiple domains— a position sometimes referred to as a hyperpower.
Today, scholarly discourse and public perception regarding superpower status vary widely. All contemporary superpower claims are disputed to varying extents. Some have argued that the term superpower is no longer meaningful in the 21st century due to changes in the balance of power, disputing all contemporary claims, however the concept is still employed. Commonly cited entities as candidates for extant superpowers, or potential superpowers in the near future, include the United States, China, the European Union, India, and Russia. Furthermore, the term is sometimes used to describe multiple countries in specific, limited contexts, such as energy superpower, economic superpower, or military superpower. Some contemporary sources have described China as a superpower due to its modern military, global influence, rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, economic and manufacturing volume, though opponents have challenged that assumption by citing its domestic challenges, such as an ageing and shrinking population, lack of skilled immigration, alongside international concerns of its soft power status due to human rights issues, lack of hard power capabilities through a global military alliance system, and the dominance of the U.S. dollar in global trade. At the same time, the perceived decline of the United States has led some to claim it is no longer a superpower, while other sources still consider it a superpower primarily due to its alliances, military capacity, soft power, and economic influence. This shift has been described as a move to bipolarity or a multipolar world, divided into spheres of influence based on geographic proximity.
Definitions and history of the term
The term was first used to describe nations with greater than great power status as early as 1944, but only gained its specific meaning with regard to the United States and the Soviet Union after 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, 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. 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, three states were superpowers - the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. Nonetheless, Britain's empire would gradually dissolve over the course of the 20th century, sharply reducing its global power projections.
Criteria of what counts as a superpower vary. However, a common characteristic that is consistent among most definitions of a superpower is a sovereign state or supranational organization that has mastered the seven dimensions of state power, namely geography, population, economy, resources, military, diplomacy, and national identity.Paul Kennedy (1987), The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers According to Lyman Miller, the basic components of superpower stature may be measured along four axes of power: military, economic, political, and cultural (referred to as 'soft power' by political scientist Joseph Nye). Kim Richard Nossal believes that the term refers to a continental-sized political community with a relatively sizable population, having a superordinate economic capacity, which includes ample domestic food supplies and natural resources. It retains autonomy in international affairs, and possesses a well-developed nuclear capacity (notably second strike capability). Paul Dukes defines a superpower to be a state capable of conducting a global strategy, including the possibility of destroying the world; commanding vast economic potential and influence; and presenting a universal ideology, although many modifications may be made to this basic definition. June Teufel Dreyer similarly requires that a country be able to project its power, soft and hard, globally to qualify as a superpower. In his book Superpower: Three Choices for America's Role in the World, Ian Bremmer 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.
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".
The term superpower is also adopted as a rhetorical device for domestic messaging and international branding. Sweden, usually associated with middle-power dynamics, self-identifies as a moral superpower for its liberal, welfare-state, social-democratic tradition; in Norway, Jan Egeland used humanitarian superpower rhetoric to solidify domestic support for humanitarian efforts abroad.
Views on the history of superpowers
Hegemons from antiquity to the 18th century
Even though superpower is a 20th-century concept, some historians retrospectively apply it to some regionally dominant historical empires, such as the Carthaginian Republic, the Roman Empire, and East Asia's Tang dynasty.
By the late 15th century, the Age of Discovery brought about an early form of globalization, connecting previously isolated parts of the world for the first time. The first colonial empires of the early modern age emerged, such as the Portuguese, Spanish (whose Spanish dollar was the main reserve currency from 1530 to 1640), Dutch and French (whose Livre tournois and French franc were the main reserve currency from 1720 to 1815) empires. In particular, the British Empire, after its Glorious Revolution in 1688 and its pioneering role in the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century would lead to its later global hegemony.
According to historical statistics and research from the OECD, until the early modern period, Western Europe, China, and India accounted for roughly two thirds of the world's GDP.
Pax Britannica: British dominance between 1815 and 1914
Following the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the British Empire enjoyed trading primacy, expanding its overseas empire and asserting maritime dominance in most of the world's trading sea lanes. At its peak, it was the most extensive empire in world history and considered the foremost power, holding sway over 25% of the world's population. Controlling 24% of the Earth's total land area, it was described as the empire on which the sun never sets. Its currency, the British Pound, was the main reserve currency from 1815 to 1920.
However, at the turn of the 20th century, Britain's economic lead was challenged by Germany and the United States, amid rising tensions with the former. When the First World War broke out, Britain relied heavily on its empire to support its war effort. The conflict placed enormous strain on its military, financial, and manpower resources. Even though victory in the war brought Britain to its largest territorial extent, it was no longer the world's preeminent power, as the United States matched or surpassed Britain in industrial and military strength.
Cold War
Emerging from World War II, the UK faced serious political, financial, and colonial issues, struggling to match the expanding Soviet and American power. It entered the postwar Age of Austerity and endured a harsh Winter of 1946–47. Facing fiscal difficulties, it took out the Anglo-American loan in 1946; the following year saw the independence of British India. The Suez Crisis of 1956 is regarded as the beginning of the end of Britain's period as a superpower.History's worst decisions and the people who made them, pp. 167–172 Financially weakened by the two world wars, it could no longer pursue its foreign policy objectives on an equal footing with the new superpowers without sacrificing convertibility of its reserve currency as a central goal of policy.Adam Klug and Gregor W. Smith, 'Suez and Sterling', Explorations in Economic History, Vol. 36, No. 3 (July 1999), pp. 181–203.
On the other hand, as the majority of World War II had been fought far from its shores, the United States had not suffered the industrial destruction or massive civilian casualties that marked the wartime situation of the countries in Europe or Asia. The war had reinforced the position of the United States as the world's largest long-term creditor nation and its principal supplier of goods;"Getting Serious About the Twin Deficits "by Author: Menzie D. Chinn – September 2005 by Council on Foreign Relations Press 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.The Cold War: The Geography of Containment Gary E. Oldenburger by Oldenburger Independent Studies; December 2002
Despite attempts to create multinational coalitions or legislative bodies (such as the 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 Cold War.Robert Frazier, 'Did Britain Start the Cold War? Bevin and the Truman Doctrine', Historical Journal, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Sep. 1984), pp. 715–727.