4.1.2 Global Superpowers Notes

Superpower - Having an Ability to Influence Policies and Places Beyond Own Territory

1. A superpower possesses dominant levels of economic, military, political, and cultural influence.
2. Superpowers can project power beyond their borders - to other places.

1. Global Superpowers

1. After the Second World War two superpowers emerged - the USA and the USSR - creating the bipolar world.
2. The competition between the USA and USSR was called the “Cold War” and lasted until the collapse of communism between 1989 (first free elections in Poland in June and the fall of Berlin Wall in November) and 1991 (dissolution of the Soviet Union).
3. In the 1990s and early 21st Century the USA was the only global superpower being able to shape international economics and politics unilaterally.
4. However, with the rising economic strength and political influence of other countries like China, India, or Brazil, a world order of multiple powers has emerged in the 21st Century with the USA and China as global superpowers.

2. Global Shift of Power

1. During the Cold War not only the USA and USSR were the only superpowers, but also most of the economic and political power was located among the so-called Global North.
2. This division is symbolically represented by the Brandt Line dividing the world into Global North and Global South (all current LICs and MICs of Latin America, Africa, and Asia).
3. With the rise of emerging economies, unprecedented industrialization of Asia, economic growth in MICs and LICs, the increasing role of oil-rich countries, this division became outdated and does not represent the global pattern of power anymore.
4. The 21st Century most likely will be characterized by multipolarity - having multiple regional and global superpowers.

Hard Power vs. Soft Power

China as a Rising Superpower

1. Throughout most of the 20th Century China was among the poorest countries in the world with levels of poverty reaching over 80% in the late 1970s / early 1980s.
2. With the economic reforms and targeted changes in international relations introduced in 1978 China started to attract FDI and to undergo the process of industrialization.
3. Since the 1990s the average annual economic growth reached approximately 10% resulting in increasing the size of the Chinese economy by the factor of 20.
4. China has become the world's leading manufacturing hub, though much of its output originally came from foreign-owned plants, but in recent years there has been an increasing role of domestic companies.
5. Around 2010 China surpassed the USA and became the world’s largest exporter.
6. Now China is the second largest economy after the USA constituting nearly 20% of the global GDP.
7. China has also invested in innovations and technological progress which can be seen especially in high-tech industry, electric vehicles production, and in the military allowing the country to move from basic manufacturing to more complex industries.
8. At the same time China has improved significantly its domestic infrastructure, has gone through rapid urbanization (measured by the share of people living in urban areas that changed from 25% to 65%) and lifted approximately 800 million people out of poverty.
9. China has also invested in initiatives beyond its borders like the Belt and Road Initiative, overseas infrastructure development, trade and retailing in other countries, all of which allowed to expand China's economic and political reach.
10. At the same time China is strengthening its military power and expanding its political influence outside its borders, especially in the South China Sea region.
11. The Chinese development model is also appealing to many LICs’ governments and clearly offers an alternative to the Western model.
12. These remarkable achievements have contributed to China's position as an emerging global superpower using both hard and soft power.
13. However, challenges remain, particularly with income inequality, disparities between urban and rural areas, and unfavorable demographic trends.
14. Moreover, China is known for building its success upon non-Western system of values ignoring to a large extent the notion of individual freedoms, human rights or free media.