Editing Superpower (section)

== Potential superpowers ==
{{Main|Potential superpower}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=May 2020}}
[[File:Superpower.svg|thumb|300px|'''Extant superpowers'''
{{legend|#ff0000|China}}
{{legend|#ffff00|United States}}
'''Potential superpowers'''—supported in varying degrees by academics
{{legend|#000080|European Union}}
{{legend|#00ff00 |India}}
{{legend|#ff6600|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, 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=13 November 2007 |access-date=2010-08-27}}</ref><ref>CNN (1999). Visions of China. CNN Specials, 1999. Retrieved on 11 March 2007 from http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/asian.superpower/.</ref> the European Union,<ref name="Mark1" /> 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 Russia<ref>{{cite book |title=Russia in the 21st Century |publisher=[[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|UNC]] Press |date=February 2005 |last=Rosefielde |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Rosefielde |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 [[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 ([[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 about whether China or India 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=13 March 2012}}</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=31 July 2013}}</ref> Some political scientists and other commentators have even suggested that such countries might simply be [[emerging power]]s, 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=15 June 2023 |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=24 May 2023 |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=1 March 2020 |title=The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World |url=https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/books/232 |journal=Faculty Books|doi=10.1093/oso/9780190088583.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-008858-3 }}</ref>

The record of such predictions has not been perfect. For example, in the 1980s, some commentators thought Japan would [[Japan as a potential superpower|become a superpower]] due to its large GDP and [[Japanese economic miracle|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, [[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 [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|invasion of Ukraine]], and its loss of influence in 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 |access-date=3 August 2023 |agency=The Economic Times |work=The New York Times |date=1 March 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>