Editing Superpower

{{Short description|State with extensive power or influence over much of the world}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{About|the geographic and political term|the fictional superhuman abilities|Superpower (ability)|other uses|Superpower (disambiguation)}}
'''Superpower''' describes a [[sovereign state]] or [[supranational union]] that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to [[Sphere of influence|exert influence]] and [[Power projection|project power]] on a global scale.<ref name="Munro1">{{cite web |last1=Munro |first1=André |title=superpower |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/superpower |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=2 May 2023}}</ref><ref name="Mark1">{{cite news |last=Leonard |first=Mark |date=18 February 2005 |url=http://www.cer.org.uk/articles/leonard_irish_times_18feb05.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327034443/http://www.cer.org.uk/articles/leonard_irish_times_18feb05.html |archive-date=27 March 2009 |title=Europe: the new superpower |work=[[Irish Times]] |access-date=31 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-link=John McCormick (Jean Monnet Chair) |first=John |last=McCormick |date=2007 |title=The European Superpower |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]}}</ref> This is done through the combined means of economic, military, technological, political, and cultural strength as well as [[International relations|diplomatic]] and [[soft power]] influence. Traditionally, superpowers are preeminent among the [[great power]]s. While a great power state is capable of exerting its influence globally, superpowers are states so influential that no significant action can be taken by the global community without first considering the positions of the superpowers on the issue.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Munro |first1=André |title=superpower (Political Science) |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/superpower |website=britannica |access-date=13 April 2022}}</ref>

In 1944, during [[World War II]], the term was first applied to the [[British Empire]], the [[Soviet Union]], and the [[United States]].<ref name="The Super-Powers; The United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union—Their Responsibility for Peace. By William T. R. Fox.">{{cite journal |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/superpowers-the-united-states-britain-and-the-soviet-uniontheir-responsibility-for-peace-by-william-t-r-fox-new-york-harcourt-brace-and-company-1944-pp-162-200-the-great-decision-by-james-t-shotwell-new-york-the-macmillan-company-1944-pp-234-300/62275F7F5673D641D4FCAAAC069A5BCA |title=The Super-Powers; The United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union—Their Responsibility for Peace. By William T. R. Fox. (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. 1944. Pp. 162. $2.00.) |journal=[[American Political Science Review]] |volume=38 |issue=5 |pages=1013–1015 |publisher=cambridge.org |doi=10.2307/1949612 |jstor=1949612 |access-date=2013-09-02 |last1=Hall |first1=H. Duncan |date=October 1944 | issn=0003-0554}}</ref> During the [[Cold War]], the British Empire dissolved, leaving the United States and the Soviet Union to dominate world affairs. At the end of the Cold War and the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, the United States [[Superpower#After the Cold War|became the world's sole superpower]],<ref name="Time-May-28-2015">{{Cite magazine |last=Bremer |first=Ian |date=28 May 2015 |title=These Are the 5 Reasons Why the U.S. Remains the World's Only Superpower |url=https://time.com/3899972/us-superpower-status-military/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Herring |first=George C. |url=https://archive.org/details/fromcolonytosupe00herr |title=From colony to superpower |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-507822-0}}</ref> a position sometimes referred to as that of a "hyperpower".<ref name="Nossal">{{cite conference |first=Kim Richard |last=Nossal |title=Lonely Superpower or Unapologetic Hyperpower? Analyzing American Power in the post–Cold War Era |url=http://post.queensu.ca/~nossalk/papers/hyperpower.htm |conference=Biennial meeting, South African Political Studies Association, 29 June-2 July 1999 |access-date=2007-02-28 |archive-date=2012-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807084022/http://post.queensu.ca/~nossalk/papers/hyperpower.htm |url-status=dead}}<!-- subtitle: "Paper for presentation at the biennial meetings of the South African Political Studies Association Saldanha, Western Cape 29 June-2 July 1999 --></ref> Since the late 2010s and into the 2020s, China has increasingly been [[Potential superpower#China|described as an emerging superpower]]<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Bekkevold |first=Jo Inge |title=Why China Is Not a Superpower |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/02/china-superpower-us-new-cold-war-rivalry-geopolitics/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |magazine=[[Foreign Policy]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Schuman |first=Michael |date=5 October 2020 |title=What Happens When China Leads the World |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/10/what-kind-superpower-will-china-be/616580/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |work=[[The Atlantic]] |language=en}}</ref> or even an established one,<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 April 2023 |title=The Debate – Macron in the middle? French president in China amid superpower showdown |url=https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/the-debate/20230405-macron-in-the-middle-french-president-in-china-amid-superpower-showdown |access-date=2023-04-09 |work=[[France 24]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Simon |first=Kuper |title=There are only two global superpowers left |url=https://www.ft.com/content/3e96c85c-7ef7-4e74-85dc-c924599293a0 |work=[[Financial Times]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Eaglen |first=Mackenzie |title=It's Time to Retire the Term "Near-Peer" Competitor When It Comes to China |url=https://www.aei.org/foreign-and-defense-policy/its-time-to-retire-the-term-near-peer-competitor-when-it-comes-to-china/ |website=AEI |language=en}}</ref> as China represents the "biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century" to the United States, as it is "the only country with enough [[Power (international relations)|power]] to [[New world order (politics)|jeopardize]] the current [[International order|global order]]".<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 March 2021 |title=China poses "biggest geopolitical test" for the U.S., Blinken says |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-poses-biggest-geopolitical-test-u-s-says-secretary-state-n1259489 |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>

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== Origin ==
[[File:Superpower map 1945.png|thumb|upright 1.3|A world map in 1945. According to [[William T. R. Fox]], the United States (blue), the [[Soviet Union]] (red), and the [[British Empire]] ([[teal]]) were superpowers.]]
[[File:Yalta Conference 1945 Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt (cropped 4-3).jpg|thumb|Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]], President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], and [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary]] [[Joseph Stalin]], meeting at the [[Yalta Conference]] in [[Crimea]] in February 1945, near the end of [[World War II]]]]
No agreed definition of what a superpower is exists and may differ between sources.<ref name="Nossal" /> However, a fundamental characteristic that is consistent with all definitions of a superpower is a nation or state that has mastered the seven dimensions of state power, namely geography, population, economy, [[resources]], military, diplomacy, and [[national identity]].<ref>Paul Kennedy (1987), ''[[The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers]]''</ref>

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.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

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.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |last=Dellios |first=Rosita |url=http://www.casaasia.es/pdf/9200595422AM1127202862621.pdf |title=China: The 21st Century Superpower? |website=Casa Asia |access-date=2010-08-27}}</ref> 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, there were three states that were superpowers, namely the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. The [[British Empire]] was the most [[List of largest empires|extensive empire]] in world history and considered the foremost great power, holding sway over 25% of the world's population<ref>{{cite book |first=Angus |last=Maddison |title=The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective |pages=98, 242 |publisher=[[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]] |location=Paris |date=2001}}</ref> and controlling about 25% of the Earth's total land area, while the United States and the Soviet Union grew in power before and during World War II. The UK would face serious political, financial, and colonial issues after World War II that left it unable to match Soviet or American power. Ultimately, Britain's empire would gradually dissolve over the course of the 20th century, sharply reducing its global power projection.

According to Lyman Miller, "[t]he basic components of superpower stature may be measured along four axes of power: military, economic, political, and cultural (or what political scientist [[Joseph Nye]] has termed '[[soft power]]')".<ref name="stanford">{{cite web |last=Miller |first=Lyman |url=http://www.stanford.edu/group/sjir/6.1.03_miller.html |title=www.stanford.edu |publisher=stanford.edu |access-date=2010-08-27 |archive-date=2014-05-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140511131303/http://www.stanford.edu/group/sjir/6.1.03_miller.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the opinion of [[Kim Richard Nossal]] of [[Queen's University at Kingston|Queen's University]] in Canada, "generally, this term was used to signify a political community that occupied a continental-sized landmass; had a sizable population (relative at least to other major powers); a superordinate economic capacity, including ample indigenous supplies of food and natural resources; enjoyed a high degree of non-dependence on international intercourse; and, most importantly, had a well-developed nuclear capacity (eventually, normally defined as [[second strike]] capability)".<ref name="Nossal" />

In the opinion of Professor [[Paul Dukes (historian)|Paul Dukes]], "a superpower must be able to conduct a global strategy, including the possibility of destroying the world; to command vast economic potential and influence; and to present a universal ideology", although "many modifications may be made to this basic definition".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://abe.etailer.dpsl.net/Home/html/moreinfo.asp?bookid=536885601 |title=The Superpowers – A Short History |date=8 December 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208142349/http://abe.etailer.dpsl.net/Home/html/moreinfo.asp?bookid=536885601 |archive-date=8 December 2008}}</ref> According to Professor June Teufel Dreyer, "[a] superpower must be able to project its power, soft and hard, globally".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.fpri.org/docs/media/FN1205-Ch-dreyer.pdf |title=Chinese Foreign Policy |first=June Teufel |last=Dreyer |magazine=Footnotes |volume=12 |issue=5 |date=February 2007 |publisher=Foreign Policy Research Institute |access-date=2015-05-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930071731/https://www.fpri.org/docs/media/FN1205-Ch-dreyer.pdf|archive-date=2023-09-30}}</ref> In his book ''[[Superpower: Three Choices for America's Role in the World]]'', Dr. [[Ian Bremmer]], president of the [[Eurasia Group]], 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".<ref>{{cite book |last=Bremmer |first=Ian |year=2015 |url=http://www.ianbremmer.com/book/superpower-three-choices-america%E2%80%99s-role-world |title=Superpower: Three Choices for America’s Role in the World |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429014943/http://www.ianbremmer.com/book/superpower-three-choices-america%E2%80%99s-role-world |archive-date=29 April 2018 |publisher=Portfolio (Penguin Group) |location=New York |isbn=978-1591847472}}</ref>

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 [[List of ancient great powers|ancient great empires]] or [[List of medieval great powers|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 Empire|Sasanian Persia]]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cambridge |title=The New Cambridge Medieval History |volume=1: c.500 – c.700 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JcmwuoTsKO0C&pg=PA323 |page=323 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |date=1995 |isbn=9780521362917 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

== During the Cold War ==
{{Further|Cold War}}
{{See also|Soviet Union–United States relations}}
{{Synthesis|section|talksection=BE sourcing|date=March 2019}}
[[File:Cold War Map 1980.svg|thumb|This map shows two global spheres during the Cold War in 1980:
{{legend|#000099|[[NATO]] member states}}
{{legend|#6666ff|Other NATO and United States allies}}
<span style="color:blue">'''×'''</span> Anti-communist guerrillas
{{legend|#ff0000|[[Warsaw Pact]] member states}}
{{legend|#ff6666|Socialist states allied with the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact}}
{{legend|#ffcccc|Other allies of the Soviet Union}}
<span style="color:red">'''×'''</span> Communist guerrillas
{{legend|#ffcc33|Socialist states not allied with the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact}}
{{legend|#ccccff|Neutral nations}}
<span style="color:green">'''×'''</span> Other conflicts]]
The 1956 [[Suez Crisis]] suggested that [[British Empire|Britain]], financially weakened by two world wars, could not then 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.<ref>Adam Klug and Gregor W. Smith, 'Suez and Sterling', ''Explorations in Economic History'', Vol. 36, No. 3 (July 1999), pp. 181–203.</ref> As the majority of World War II had been fought far from its national boundaries, the United States had not suffered the industrial destruction nor 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<ref>"Getting Serious About the Twin Deficits "by Author: Menzie D. Chinn – September 2005 by Council on Foreign Relations Press [http://www.cfr.org/economics/getting-serious-twin-deficits/p8933] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402083705/http://www.cfr.org/economics/getting-serious-twin-deficits/p8933|date=2 April 2012}}</ref> and its principal supplier of goods; 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.<ref>[http://www.oldenburger.us/gary/docs/TheColdWar.htm The Cold War: The Geography of Containment] Gary E. Oldenburger by Oldenburger Independent Studies; December 2002</ref> 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 [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]] in 1947, the United States took the lead in [[Containment|containing]] [[Soviet expansion]] in the [[Cold War]].<ref>Robert Frazier, 'Did Britain Start the Cold War? Bevin and the Truman Doctrine', ''Historical Journal'', Vol. 27, No. 3 (Sep. 1984), pp. 715–727.</ref>

The two countries opposed each other ideologically, politically, militarily, and economically. The Soviet Union promoted the ideology of [[Marxism–Leninism]], [[planned economy]], and a [[one-party state]] while the United States promoted the ideologies of [[liberal democracy]] and the [[free market]] in a [[capitalist]] [[market economy]]. This was reflected in the [[Warsaw Pact]] and [[NATO]] military alliances, respectively, as most of Europe became aligned with either the United States or the Soviet Union. These alliances implied that these two nations were part of an emerging [[Polarity (international relations)|bipolar]] world, in contrast with a previously multipolar world.<ref>[https://library.fes.de/libalt/journals/swetsfulltext/15222748.pdf "Ideology and the Cold War"], by Mark Kramer 1999</ref>

The idea that the Cold War period revolved around only two blocs, or even only two nations, has been challenged by some scholars in the post–Cold War era, who have noted that the bipolar world only exists if one ignores all of the various movements and conflicts that occurred without influence from either of the two superpowers.<ref>[http://www.signalalpha.com/Cold_War.html Conflicts of Superpower] by Signal Alpha News Achieve Press 2005</ref> Additionally, much of the conflict between the superpowers was fought in [[proxy war]]s, which more often than not involved issues more complex than the standard Cold War oppositions.<ref>[https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/fordham.htm Economic Interests, Party, and Ideology in Early Cold War Era U.S. Foreign Policy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928145126/https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/fordham.htm |date=28 September 2012 }} Benjamin O. Fordham by World Peace Foundation; Massachusetts Institute of Technology April 1998</ref>

After the Soviet Union disintegrated in the early 1990s, the term hyperpower began to be applied to the United States as the sole remaining superpower of the Cold War era.<ref name="Nossal" /> This term, popularized by French foreign minister [[Hubert Védrine]] in the late 1990s, is controversial and the validity of classifying the United States in this way is disputed. One notable opponent to this theory is [[Samuel P. Huntington]], who rejects this theory in favor of a multipolar [[Balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]]. Other international relations theorists such as [[Henry Kissinger]] theorize that because the threat of the Soviet Union no longer exists to formerly American-dominated regions such as Western Europe and Japan, American influence is only declining since the end of the Cold War because such regions no longer need protection or have necessarily similar foreign policies as the United States.<ref>Henry Kissinger, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=HhfceQZ3pmoC Diplomacy]'', pp. 24, 26</ref>{{clear}}

== After the Cold War ==
{{see also|Second Cold War}}
[[File:American bases worldwide.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Countries with military bases and facilities of the present sole superpower – the United States]]
[[File:NYSE127.jpg|thumb|The [[New York Stock Exchange]] trading floor. [[Economic power]] such as a large [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|nominal GDP]] and a world [[reserve currency]] are important factors in the projection of [[hard power]].]]
After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991 which ended the [[Cold War]], the [[Post–Cold War era|post–Cold War]] world has in the past been considered by some to be a [[Unipolarity|unipolar]] world,<ref name="Krauthammer1">Charles Krauthammer, [https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/1991-02-01/unipolar-moment The Unipolar Moment], ''Foreign Policy Magazine'' (1991).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gaikoforum.com/P03_19_122.pdf |title=www.gaikoforum.com |access-date=2010-08-27}}</ref> with the United States as the world's sole remaining superpower.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1217752.stm Country profile: United States of America], BBC News. Retrieved 11 March 2007.</ref> In 1999, political scientist and author [[Samuel P. Huntington]] wrote: "The United States, of course, is the sole state with preeminence in every domain of power – economic, military, diplomatic, ideological, technological, and cultural – with the reach and capabilities to promote its interests in virtually every part of the world". However, Huntington rejected the claim that the world was unipolar, arguing: "There is now only one superpower. But that does not mean that the world is unipolar", describing it instead as "a strange hybrid, a uni-multipolar system with one superpower and several major powers". He further wrote that "Washington is blind to the fact that it no longer enjoys the dominance it had at the end of the Cold War. It must relearn the game of international politics as a major power, not a superpower, and make compromises".<ref name="affairs">{{cite web|url=http://www-stage.foreignaffairs.org/19990301faessay966/samuel-p-huntington/the-lonely-superpower.html|title=The Lonely Superpower|work=Foreign Affairs|first=Samuel P.|last=Huntington|date=27 April 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427150630/http://www-stage.foreignaffairs.org/19990301faessay966/samuel-p-huntington/the-lonely-superpower.html|archive-date=27 April 2006}}</ref>

Experts argue that this older single-superpower assessment of [[global politics]] is too simplified, in part because of the difficulty in classifying the European Union at its current stage of development. Others argue that the notion of a superpower is outdated, considering complex global economic interdependencies and propose that the world is [[Polarity (international relations)#Multipolarity|multipolar]].<ref name="The Global list (No superpower)">{{cite web|url=http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/printStoryId.aspx?StoryId=3553|title=The Multipolar World Vs. The Superpower|work=The Globalist|first=Sherle|last=Schwenninger|date=5 December 2003|access-date=2006-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613215234/http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/printStoryId.aspx?StoryId=3553 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=2006-06-13}}</ref><ref name="Washington Post (No superpower)">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/03/AR2006030302055.html|title=The Multipolar Unilateralist|access-date=2006-06-10 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=5 March 2006 |first=David |last=Von Drehle}}</ref><ref name="Globalpolicy.org (No superpower)">{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/challenges/competitors/2005/0315chinapower.htm|title=No Longer the "Lone" Superpower|access-date=2006-06-11}}</ref><ref name="A Times (No superpower)">{{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED05Ak01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030406200825/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED05Ak01.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=6 April 2003|title=The war that may end the age of superpower |work=Asia Times|author=Henry C K Liu|date=5 April 2003|access-date=2006-06-11}}</ref>

A 2012 report by the [[National Intelligence Council]] predicted that the United States superpower status will have eroded to merely being first among equals by 2030, but that it would remain highest among the world's most powerful countries because of its influence in many different fields and global connections that the great regional powers of the time would not match.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} Additionally, some experts have suggested the possibility of the United States losing its superpower status completely in the future, citing speculation of its decline in power relative to the rest of the world, economic hardships, a declining dollar, Cold War allies becoming less dependent on the United States, and the emergence of future powers around the world.<ref name="uiuc-superpower">Unger J (2008), [http://news.illinois.edu/news/08/0508superpower.html U.S. no longer superpower, now a besieged global power, scholars say] ''[[University of Illinois]]''</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Almond |first=Steve |url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/22/american_decline |title=Seizing American supremacy |work=Salon.com |date=22 August 2007 |access-date=2010-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Leonardo |last=Martinez-Diaz |url=http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2007/0428us_economics_martinez-diaz.aspx |title=U.S.: A Losing Superpower? |publisher=Brookings.edu |date=28 April 2007 |access-date=2010-08-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602232730/http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2007/0428us_economics_martinez-diaz.aspx |archive-date=2010-06-02}}</ref>

According to a [[RAND Corporation]] paper by American diplomat [[James Dobbins (diplomat)|James Dobbins]], Professor Howard J. Shatz, and policy analyst Ali Wyne, Russia in the breakdown of a disintegrating unipolar world order, while not a peer competitor to the United States, would still remain a player and a potential [[rogue state]] that would undermine global affairs. The West could [[Containment|contain]] Russia with methods like those employed during the Cold War with the Soviet Union, though this would be tested by Russia's overt and covert efforts to destabilize Western alliances and political systems. On the other hand, China is a peer competitor to the United States that cannot be contained, and will be a far more challenging entity for the West to confront. The authors state that China's military dominance in the Asia-Pacific is already eroding American influence at a rapid pace, and the costs for the US to defend its interests there will continue to rise. Moreover, China's economic influence has already broken out of its regional confines long ago and is on track to directly contest the US role as the center for economic trade and commerce.<ref name="RAND Corporation-October-2018">{{Cite report|author1=Dobbins, James |author2=Shatz, Howard |author3=Wyne, Ali |title=Russia Is a Rogue, Not a Peer; China Is a Peer, Not a Rogue: Different Challenges, Different Responses|url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE310.html|publisher=[[RAND Corporation]]|date=2018}}</ref><ref name="Sage Journals-January-16-2018">{{Cite journal|author1=Maher, Paul J |author2=Igou, Eric R |author3=van Tilburg, Wijnand A.P. |title=Brexit, Trump, and the Polarizing Effect of Disillusionment|journal=Social Psychological and Personality Science|volume=9|issue=2|pages=205–213|publisher=[[Sage Journals]]|date= 16 January 2018|doi=10.1177/1948550617750737|s2cid=149195975|url=https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/brexit-trump-and-the-polarizing-effect-of-disillusionment(5e1bccd1-d580-461b-abe3-cbaceafd5a1d).html}}</ref><ref name="Deutsche Welle-September-18-2018">{{Cite news|author=Janjevic, Darko |title=Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban's special relationship|url=https://www.dw.com/en/vladimir-putin-and-viktor-orbans-special-relationship/a-45512712|publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]]|date= 18 September 2018}}</ref><ref name="The Conversation-March-22-2019">{{Cite news|author=King, Winnie |title=Italy joins China's Belt and Road Initiative – here's how it exposes cracks in Europe and the G7|url=https://theconversation.com/italy-joins-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-heres-how-it-exposes-cracks-in-europe-and-the-g7-114039|publisher=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]|date= 22 March 2019}}</ref>

== 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>

== Superpower collapse ==
=== Soviet Union ===
Dramatic changes occurred in the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[Eastern Bloc]] during [[history of the Soviet Union (1982–91)|the 1980s and early 1990s]], with ''[[perestroika]]'' and ''[[glasnost]]'', the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] in November 1989, and finally the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in December 1991. As early as 1970, [[Andrei Amalrik]] had made [[predictions of the dissolution of the Soviet Union|predictions of Soviet collapse]], and [[Emmanuel Todd]] made a similar prediction in 1976.<ref>The final fall, Todd, 1976</ref> Due to Russia's capabilities of conventional warfare during the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] Russia was compared to a "[[Potemkin village|Potemkin]] Superpower" by [[Paul Krugman]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=[[Paul Krugman]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/opinion/putin-military-sanctions-weakness.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301041314/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/opinion/putin-military-sanctions-weakness.html|url-status=live|archive-date=1 March 2022|title=Russia Is a Potemkin Superpower|journal=[[New York Times]]|date=28 February 2022|access-date=1 March 2022}}</ref> Russia is a [[List of states with nuclear weapons|nuclear-weapon state]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=William H |first=Boothby |date=10 March 2016 |title=13 Nuclear Weapons |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/law/9780198728504.003.0013 |journal=Weapons and the Law of Armed Conflict |pages=208–216 |doi=10.1093/law/9780198728504.003.0013|isbn=978-0-19-872850-4 }}</ref>

=== British Empire ===

The [[Suez Crisis]] of 1956 is considered by some commentators to be the beginning of the end of Britain's period as a superpower,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/mar/14/past.education1 | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Derek | last=Brown | title=1956: Suez and the end of empire | date=14 March 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5199392.stm | work=BBC News | first=Paul | last=Reynolds | title=Suez: End of empire | date=24 July 2006}}</ref><ref>History's worst decisions and the people who made them, pp. 167–172</ref> but other commentators have pointed much earlier such as in [[World War I]], the [[Depression of 1920–21]], the [[Partition of Ireland]], the return of the [[pound sterling]] to the [[gold standard]] at its prewar parity in 1925, the [[Fall of Singapore]], the loss of wealth from [[World War II]], the end of [[Lend-Lease|Lend-Lease Aid]] from the United States in 1945, the postwar [[Economic history of the United Kingdom#1945–1951: Age of Austerity|Age of Austerity]], the [[Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom|Winter of 1946–47]], the beginning of decolonization and the independence of [[British Raj|British India]] as other key points in Britain's decline and loss of superpower status.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom|title=United Kingdom {{!}} History, Geography, Facts, & Points of Interest|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-04-17}}</ref>

The Suez Crisis in particular is regarded by historians to be a political and diplomatic disaster for the British Empire, as it led to large-scale international condemnation, including extensive pressure from the United States and Soviet Union. This forced the British and the French to withdraw in embarrassment and cemented the increasingly-[[polarity (international relations)|bipolar]] Cold War politics between the [[Soviet Union]] and United States. In the 1960s, the movement for decolonization reached its peak, with remaining imperial holdings achieving independence, accelerating the transition from the [[British Empire]] to the [[Commonwealth of Nations]]. As the Empire continued to crumble, the [[British Islands|home islands]] of the United Kingdom later experienced deindustrialization throughout the 1970s, coupled with high inflation and industrial unrest that unraveled the [[postwar consensus]]. This led to some economists to refer to Britain as [[the Sick Man of Europe]]. In 1976, the United Kingdom had to seek assistance from the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) which it had previously ironically helped create, receiving funding of $3.9&nbsp;billion, the largest-ever loan to be requested up until that point.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/imf-crisis.htm |title=National Archives |access-date= 17 December 2015}}</ref><ref name=NA-SterlingDevalued>{{cite web|title=Sterling devalued and the IMF loan|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/sterling-devalued-imf-loan.htm|website=The National Archives|access-date=17 December 2015}}</ref> In 1979, the country suffered major widespread strikes known as the [[Winter of Discontent]]. All these factors were seen by academics, economists and politicians as symbolising Britain's postwar decline. Lastly, the [[Handover of Hong Kong]] to China in July 1997 was seen by experts as the definitive end of the British Empire.

Nevertheless, the United Kingdom today has retained global [[soft power]] in the 21st century, including a formidable military. The United Kingdom continues to have a permanent seat on the [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]] alongside only four other powers, and is one of the nine nuclear powers. Its capital city, London, continues to be regarded as one of the pre-eminent cities in the world, being ranked as a [[global city]] by the Mori Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Global Power City Index 2020|url=http://www.mori-m-foundation.or.jp/english/ius2/gpci2/2020.shtml|access-date=2021-06-02|website=The Mori Memorial Foundation}}</ref> In 2022, the United Kingdom was ranked the foremost European country in terms of soft power by Brand Finance.<ref name="Global soft power index">{{cite web|url= https://brandfinance.com/press-releases/global-soft-power-index-2022-usa-bounces-back-better-to-top-of-nation-brand-ranking|title= Global Soft Power Index 2022: USA bounces back better to top of nation brand ranking|website=brandfinance.com|date= 15 March 2022|access-date=1 April 2022}}</ref>

=== United States ===
{{see also|American decline}}

In ''[[After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order]]''<ref>Todd, Constable, 2001</ref> (2001), French sociologist Emmanuel Todd predicts the eventual decline and fall of the United States as a superpower. "After years of being perceived as a problem-solver, the US itself has now become a problem for the rest of the world." Since the 2010s, as a result of [[asymmetric polarization]] within the United States, as well as globally perceived [[U.S. foreign policy]] failures, and China's growing influence around the world, some academics and geopolitical experts have argued that the United States may already be experiencing a decay in its [[soft power]] around the world.<ref name="Foreign Policy piece">{{cite web|url= https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/06/28/us-global-power-values-roe-v-wade-guns/ |title=America Is Losing Its Value Proposition |website=Foreign Policy |first= Howard W. |last=French |access-date=1 November 2022}}</ref><ref name="Stanford commentary">{{cite web |url=https://fsi.stanford.edu/news/soft-war-america-losing |title=The Soft War That America Is Losing |publisher=Stanford University |first=Aynne |last=Kokas |date=15 January 2021 |access-date=1 November 2022}}</ref>

== Superpower disengagement ==
Superpower disengagement is a [[foreign policy]] option whereby the most powerful nations, the superpowers, reduce their interventions in an area. Such disengagement could be multilateral among superpowers or lesser powers, or bilateral between two superpowers, or unilateral. It could mean an end to either direct or indirect interventions. For instance, disengagement could mean that the superpowers remove their support of proxies in [[proxy war]]s to de-escalate a superpower conflict back to a local problem based on local disputes. Disengagement can create buffers between superpowers that might prevent conflicts or reduce the intensity of conflicts.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The term usually refers to various policy proposals during the [[Cold War]] which attempted to defuse tensions between the [[Soviet Union]] and the United States, largely because of the risk of any superpower conflict to escalate to [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]]. Examples of one-sided disengagement include when [[Joseph Stalin]] decided to end Soviet support for the communist [[guerrilla]]s in [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]] during the [[Greek Civil War]], and when [[Richard Nixon]] withdrew US troops from Vietnam in the early 1970s.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The more important candidates for disengagement were where Soviet and US forces faced each other directly such as in Germany and [[Austria]]. The [[Austrian State Treaty]] is an example of formal, multilateral, superpower disengagement which left Austria as neutral for the duration of the Cold War, with Austria staying out of the [[Warsaw Pact]], [[NATO]], and the [[European Economic Community]]. The 1952 [[Stalin Note]] is perhaps the most controversial proposal of superpower disengagement from Germany.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Layne |first1=Christopher |title=Superpower Disengagement |journal=Foreign Policy |date=1989 |issue=77 |pages=17–40 |doi=10.2307/1148767 |jstor=1148767 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1148767 |access-date=2 February 2024 |issn=0015-7228}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Schwarz |first1=Benjamin |title=It's Time to Disrupt NATO |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/time-disrupt-nato/ |access-date=2 February 2024 |date=11 July 2018|work=[[The Nation]]}}</ref>

== Proposed early superpowers ==
These are proposed examples of ancient or historical superpowers, taking into account that the knowledge of what the "known world" comprised was extremely limited in past eras (for example, Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas and Australia only after the [[Age of Discovery]], which began in the late 15th century, and prior to this era, they had a very limited knowledge about East Asia as well).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Age of Discovery |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/story/age-of-discovery/vwWhV3Stt409eA |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=Google Arts & Culture |language=en}}</ref>

===Archaic globalization (before 1500)===
{{Main article|Archaic globalization}}
Many of the nations of this historical period were never superpowers, however they were regional powers with influence in their respective regions. 

Note: Does not take into account city-states and stateless nomadic peoples. 

====Bronze Age====
===== Fertile Crescent in the Early Bronze Age =====
In the early history of both regions contact between these civilization was very limited, long distance trade definitely occurred but primarily through long chains of intermediaries rather than directly.
* [[Akkadian Empire]] (isolated civilization; first empire recorded in history)
* [[Old Kingdom of Egypt]] (isolated civilization) 

===== Fertile Crescent in the Middle Bronze Age =====
Regular contact between Egypt, Mesopotamia and Anatolia dates from this period. Mitanni was an important intermediary in the trade between these civilizations.
* [[Old Assyrian Empire]]
* [[Old Babylonian Empire]]
* [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]]
* [[Mittani|Kingdom of Mitanni]]
* [[Hittite Empire]]

===== Fertile Crescent and Mediterranean Sea in the Late Bronze Age =====
Known by the [[Minoan Civilization|Minoans]] and [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean Greeks]]:
* [[New Kingdom of Egypt]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=McDonald |first=Angela |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/966861438 |title=Ancient Egypt |date=10 January 2017 |publisher=National Geographic Books |isbn=978-1-4654-5753-0 |oclc=966861438}}</ref> 
* [[Hittites|Hittite Empire]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Giusfredi |first=Federico |title=Hittite Empire |date=11 January 2016 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe265 |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Empire |pages=1–7 |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd |doi=10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe265 |isbn=9781118455074 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref>

===== Indian subcontinent =====
Contact with other civilizations was very limited; long distance trade with Mesopotamia definitely occurred but primarily through long chains of intermediaries rather than directly.
* [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] (isolated civilization, no consensus on whether it was a unified state or not)

===== East Asia =====
* [[Shang dynasty|Shang Kingdom]] (isolated civilization) 
* [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou Kingdom]] (isolated civilization)

===== Mesoamerica =====
*[[Olmec civilization]] (isolated civilization, little information about their type of government)

===== Andes =====
*[[Caral–Supe civilization]] (isolated civilization, little information about their type of government)

====Classical antiquity====
===== Indian subcontinent =====
* [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha Empire]] (one of the 16 [[Mahajanapadas]], isolated civilizations before contact with the Persians)

===== Known world by the ancient Greeks before the Hellenistic period =====
* [[Kushite Empire]] ([[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt]]) 
* [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]<ref>{{Citation |title=The rise of the Neo-Assyrian empire |date=4 December 2013 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315879895-41 |work=The Ancient Near East |pages=499–520 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315879895-41 |isbn=978-1-315-87989-5 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=The Nature of Siege Warfare in the Neo-Assyrian Period |date=13 November 2019 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004413740_004 |work=Brill's Companion to Sieges in the Ancient Mediterranean |pages=35–52 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|BRILL]] |doi=10.1163/9789004413740_004 |access-date=2022-12-27|last1=Siddall |first1=Luis R. |isbn=9789004413740 |s2cid=214558514}}</ref>
*[[Neo-Babylonian Empire]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fantalkin |first=Alexander |date=1 December 2017 |title=In Defense of Nebuchadnezzar II the Warrior |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/aofo-2017-0014 |journal=Altorientalische Forschungen |volume=44 |issue=2 |doi=10.1515/aofo-2017-0014 |s2cid=165967543 |issn=2196-6761}}</ref>
* [[Achaemenid Empire]] (Persia)<ref>{{Citation |last=Kuhrt |first=Amélie |title=State Communications in the Persian Empire |date=14 February 2014 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199354771.003.0006 |work=State Correspondence in the Ancient World |pages=112–140 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199354771.003.0006 |isbn=978-0-19-935477-1 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref>
* [[Macedonian Empire]]<ref>{{Citation |title=Alexander and his empire |date=26 March 1993 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511518539.006 |work=Conquest and Empire |pages=229–258 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511518539.006 |isbn=9780521406796 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref>

===== Known world by the ancient Romans in their republican era =====
The [[Ancient drachma|Drachma]], minted by many states, most notably in the [[Ptolemaic Egypt]] was the reserve currency in the Mediterranean and Near East
* [[Carthaginian Empire|Carthaginian Republic]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Miles |first=Richard |date=2011 |title=Carthage: A Mediterranean Superpower |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/hsp.2011.0059 |journal=Historically Speaking |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=35–37 |doi=10.1353/hsp.2011.0059 |s2cid=162227777 |issn=1944-6438}}</ref>
* [[Roman Republic]]<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 March 2010 |title=How Rome fell: death of a superpower |journal=Choice Reviews Online |volume=47 |issue=7 |pages=47–3968-47-3968 |doi=10.5860/choice.47-3968 |doi-broken-date=1 February 2025 |issn=0009-4978}}</ref>
* [[Ptolemaic Egypt]]
* [[Seleucid Empire]]
* [[Parthian Empire]] (Persia)
* [[Maurya Empire]] (not fully known by Europeans, that only known frontier regions and later northern regions)<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kulke |first1=Hermann |last2=Rothermund |first2=Dietmar |date=26 August 2004 |title=A History of India |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203391266 |doi=10.4324/9780203391266 |isbn=9781134331918}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raza |first=Ahmed |date=16 August 2021 |title=Vajpayee: The Years that Changed India ShaktiSinha, Vajpayee: The Years that Changed India, Penguin/Vintage Books, New Delhi, 2020, 368 pp., Rs.599.00 (Hardback), {{text|ISBN:}} 9780670093441 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09700161.2021.1965348 |journal=Strategic Analysis |volume=45 |issue=5 |pages=444–445 |doi=10.1080/09700161.2021.1965348 |s2cid=243093620 |issn=0970-0161}}</ref>

===== Known world by the ancient Romans in their imperial era =====
Main [[reserve currency]] in the Mediterranean and Near East: [[Denarius|Roman Denarius]], later replaced by the [[Solidus (coin)|Roman Solidus]].
* [[Roman Empire]]
* [[Parthian Empire]] (Persia)
* [[Sasanid Empire]] (Persia)
* [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksumite Empire]]
* [[Gupta Empire]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sinha |first=Kanad |title=State, Power and Legitimacy: The Gupta Kingdom |publisher=Primus Books |year=2019 |isbn=9789352902798}}</ref>

===== East Asia =====
Not fully known outside East Asia. The West knew of these powers because of the [[Silk Road]], although little information reached them.
* [[Han dynasty|Han Empire]]<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Lockard |first=Craig A. |date=4 February 2013 |title=Chinese emigration to 1948 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm130 |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration |doi=10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm130|isbn=9781444334890}}</ref>
* [[Xiongnu|Xiongnu Empire]]

===== Mesoamerica =====
Isolated civilizations in relation to the [[Afro-Eurasia]].
* [[Olmec civilization]] (little information about their type of government)
* [[Zapotec civilization]] (little information about their type of government in this time period)
* [[Teotihuacán]] (little information about their type of government)

===== Andes =====
Isolated civilization in relation to [[Afro-Eurasia]].
* [[Chavín culture|Chavín Civilization]] (little information about their type of government)

====Post-Classical Age====
===== Known world by Medieval Europeans and Middle Easterners =====
Main [[reserve currency]] in the Mediterranean and Near East: [[Solidus (coin)|Roman Solidus]], later replaced by the [[Gold dinar|Dinar]], minted by the Caliphates.
* [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]]
* [[Carolingian Empire]] (Arabs, Persians, East Asians used "[[Franks]]" as a generic name for Europeans. Due to [[feudalism]], Western European powers with influence outside Europe did not emerge in the remainder of the Middle Ages) 
* The [[Caliphate]]s: [[Rashidun Caliphate]], [[Umayyad Caliphate]],<ref>{{Cite book |first=Jane |last=Burbank |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/751801141 |title=Empires in world history : power and the politics of difference |date=5 July 2011 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-15236-3 |oclc=751801141}}</ref> [[Fatimid Caliphate]] and [[Abbasid Caliphate]]
* [[Sultanate of Mogadishu]] (Known by Arabs, Europeans and East Asians)
* Persia ([[Sassanid Empire]], [[Ilkhanate]] and the [[Timurid Empire]]) (known by Europeans, Indians and East Asians)
* [[Ethiopian Empire]] (known by the Arabs, Indians, Europeans and later by the Chinese)
* [[Medieval India|Indian]] empires: [[Chola Empire]] and [[Delhi Sultanate]]
* [[Mongol Empire]] (known by Eurasians)
* [[Medieval China|Chinese]] empires: [[Tang dynasty|Tang Empire]] (known by East Asians, Indians and Middle Easterners but not by Europeans in detailed way),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lockard |first=Craig |title="Tang Civilization and the Chinese Centuries" |url=https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/services/dropoff/china_civ_temp/week06/pdfs/tangci.pdf}}</ref> [[Song dynasty|Song Empire]] (known by the Europeans in its very last years),<ref>{{Citation |title=Conclusion |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt183p1d6.13 |work=The Crimes of Empire |pages=241–248 |publisher=Pluto Press |doi=10.2307/j.ctt183p1d6.13 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref> [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan Empire]], [[Ming dynasty|Ming Empire]]

===== Sub-Saharan Africa =====
During the Middle Ages the region was known by Arab merchants. Europeans were aware that the region existed (to the point that [[Mansa Musa]] was mentioned in the [[Catalan Atlas]]), but little information about the place reached Europe.
* [[Ghana Empire]] (known by Arabs)
* [[Mali Empire]] (known by Arabs and Europeans)
* [[Songhai Empire]] (know by Arabs)
* [[Kingdom of Zimbabwe]] and [[Kingdom of Mutapa]] (known by Arabs and Asians. Contact with Europeans only after 1500)

===== Mesoamerica =====
Isolated civilization in relation to the [[Afro-Eurasia]].
*[[Toltec Empire]]
*[[Purépecha Empire]]
*[[Aztec Empire]]

===== South America =====
Isolated civilizations in relation to the [[Afro-Eurasia]].
* [[Wari Empire]]
* [[Tiwanaku Empire]]
* [[Inca Empire]]

===Proto-globalization (1500–1800)===
{{Main article|Proto-globalization}}
The&nbsp;[[Age of Discovery]]&nbsp;brought a broad change in globalization, being the first period in which previously isolated parts of the world became connected to form the&nbsp;[[world system]], and the first [[colonial empire]]s of the [[early modern age]] emerged, such as the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]], [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]], [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]] and [[French colonial Empire|French]] empires.<ref>{{cite book |last=Aldrich |first=Robert |title=Greater France: A History of French Overseas Expansion |date=1996 |page=304}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qFTHBoRvQbsC&pg=PA218 |title=Colonialism: An International Social, Cultural, and Political Encyclopedia |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |year=2003 |isbn=9781576073353 |editor-last=Page |editor-first=Melvin E. |page=218 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Englund |first=Steven |title=Napoleon: A Political Life |date=2005 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |page=254}}</ref> The [[British Empire]], after its [[Glorious Revolution]] in 1688 and its pioneering role in the industrialization process in the 18th century would lead to its global [[hegemony]] in the 19th century and early 20th century (before the [[World War I]]).<ref name="auto" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Spiezio |first=K. Edward |date=1990 |title=British Hegemony and Major Power War, 1815–1939: An Empirical Test of Gilpin's Model of Hegemonic Governance |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2600707 |journal=International Studies Quarterly |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=165–181 |doi=10.2307/2600707 |jstor=2600707 |issn=0020-8833}}</ref> 

The contact between distant civilizations was highly facilitated as well as the mapping of a large part of the planet, with people in this historical period having a better understanding of the global map of the [[Planet Earth]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 June 2024 |title=European exploration – Age of Discovery, Voyages, Expansion {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/European-exploration/The-Age-of-Discovery |access-date=2024-07-16 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Portuguese Empire]] (main reserve currency from c.1450 to 1530: [[Portuguese real]])
* [[Spanish Empire]] (main reserve currency from 1530 to 1640: [[Spanish dollar]])<ref>{{Cite book |last=H |first=Kamen |title=Spain's Road To Empire: The Making Of A World Power, 1492–1763 |pages=640p}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=The Spanish Armada |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781472582362.ch-009 |work=A History of the English-Speaking Peoples |year=1956 |publisher=Cassell & Company Ltd |doi=10.5040/9781472582362.ch-009 |isbn=978-1-4725-8236-2 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref>
* [[Dutch Empire]] (main reserve currency from 1640 to 1720: [[Dutch guilder]])
* [[French colonial Empire]]<ref>{{Citation |last=Aldrich |first=Robert |title=The French Overseas |date=1996 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24729-5_6 |work=Greater France |pages=122–162 |place=London |publisher=Macmillan Education UK |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-24729-5_6 |isbn=978-0-333-56740-1 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 March 2004 |title=Colonialism: an international, social, cultural, and political encyclopedia |journal=Choice Reviews Online |volume=41 |issue=7 |pages=218 |doi=10.5860/choice.41-3809 |doi-broken-date=1 February 2025 |issn=0009-4978}}</ref> (main reserve currency from 1720 to 1815: [[Livre tournois]] and [[French franc]])<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jordan |first=David P. |date=June 2007 |title=''Napoleon: A Political Life'' . By Steven Englund. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004. Pp. xiv+575. $18.95. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/519344 |journal=The Journal of Modern History |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=438–440 |doi=10.1086/519344 |issn=0022-2801}}</ref>
* [[British Empire]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Suciu |first=Peter |date=5 March 2022 |title=Turkey Could Be a Naval Power in Europe Again |url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/turkey-could-be-naval-power-europe-again-200991 |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=The National Interest |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Ottoman Empire]]<ref>{{Cite book |author=Stone, Norman |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/986757557 |title=Turkey : a short history |date=2017 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-29299-0 |oclc=986757557}}</ref> 
* [[Habsburg empire]] during the reign of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]]<ref>{{Citation |last=Mitchell |first=A. Wess |title=The Habsburg Puzzle |date=1 October 2019 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.23943/princeton/9780691196442.003.0001 |work=The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire |pages=1–18 |publisher=Princeton University Press |doi=10.23943/princeton/9780691196442.003.0001 |isbn=9780691196442 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref>

===Modern globalization (1800–1945)===
{{Main article|Modern globalization}}
* [[British Empire]] (main reserve currency from 1815 to 1920: [[Pound sterling]])<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.midasgoldgroup.com/news/world-reserve-currencies-since-1450/#:~:text=Since%201450%20there%20have%20been,States%20from%201921%20to%20today | title=World Reserve Currencies Since 1450 | date=6 January 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Clayton |first=Anthony |date=1986 |title=The British Empire as a Superpower, 1919–39 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08609-2 |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-08609-2 |isbn=978-1-349-08611-5}}</ref>
* [[First French Empire]] of [[Napoleon|Napoleon I]] and [[French colonial empire|Second French Colonial Empire]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 December 2021 |title=Second French Colonial Empire |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/geography/second-french-colonial-empire.html |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=WorldAtlas |language=en-US}}</ref>

According to historical statistics and research from the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]], until the [[early modern period]], Western Europe, [[Imperial China|China]], and [[Indian subcontinent|India]] accounted for roughly two thirds of the world's GDP.<ref name="Maddison 2006 656">{{cite book |last=Maddison |first=Angus |title=The World Economy – Volume 1: A Millennial Perspective and Volume 2: Historical Statistics |year=2006 |publisher=OECD Publishing by [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] |isbn=9789264022621 |page=656 |url=http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.asp?K=5L9ZBQKL5RLW&lang=EN&sort=sort_date%2Fd&stem=true&sf1=Title&st1=world+economy&sf3=SubjectCode&sp1=not&st4=E4+or+E5+or+P5&sf4=SubVersionCode&ds=world+economy%3B+All+Subjects%3B+&m=3&dc=26&plang=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{portal|border=no|Politics|World}}
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[American Century]]
* [[Indian Century]]
* [[Chinese Century]]
* [[Soviet empire]]
* [[Middle power]]
* [[Second superpower]]
* [[Small power]]
* [[Group of Two]]
* [[Historic recurrence]]
* [[International relations theory]]
* [[List of modern great powers]]
* [[Megacorporation]] (the business equivalent of a powerful nation)
}}

== References ==
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{{reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin|30em}} 
* {{cite book |last=Belt |first=Don |year=2004 |title=National Geographic |chapter=Europe's Big Gamble |pages=54–65 |title-link=National Geographic (magazine)}}
* {{cite book |last=Brzezinski |first=Zbigniew |year=1997 |title=The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives |publisher=[[Basic Books]] |location=New York |isbn=0-465-02726-1 |author-link=Zbigniew Brzezinski |url=https://archive.org/details/grandchessboarda00brze_0}}
* {{cite book |last=Fox |first=William |year=1944 |title=The Super-powers: the United States, Britain, and the Soviet union—their responsibility for peace |publisher=Harcourt, Brace a. Co |author-link=William Thornton Rickert Fox}}
* Litwin Henryk, [https://www.msz.gov.pl/resource/49da65c5-9917-40de-b542-5c89751cacf6:JCR ''Central European Superpower''], ''BUM Magazine'', October 2016.
* {{cite book |last=Kamen |first=Henry |year=2003 |title=Spain's Road To Empire: The Making Of A World Power, 1492–1763 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Paul |year=1988 |title=The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers |isbn=0-679-72019-7 |author-link=Paul Kennedy |title-link=The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing }}
* {{cite book |first=John |last=McCormick, John | year=2007 |title=The European Superpower |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |author-link=John McCormick (Jean Monnet Chair)}}
* {{cite book |last=Rosefielde |first=Steven |title=Russia in the 21st Century: The Prodigal Superpower |url=http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/36784/excerpt/9780521836784_excerpt.pdf |access-date=2007-10-07 |year=2005 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=0-521-83678-6}}
* Erik Ringmar, "[https://archive.org/download/ErikRingmartheRecognitionGameSovietRussiaAgainstTheWest/ErikRingmarTheRecognitionGame.pdf The Recognition Game: Soviet Russia Against the West]," ''Cooperation & Conflict'', 37:2, 2002. pp.&nbsp;115–36. – an explanation of the relations between the superpowers in the 20th century based on the notion of recognition.
* Sicilia, David B.; Wittner, David G. ''Strands of Modernization: The Circulation of Technology and Business Practices in East Asia, 1850–1920'' ([[University of Toronto Press]], 2021) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=57666 online review]
* {{cite book |last=Todd |first=Emanuel |year=200X |title=After the Empire – The Breakdown of the American Order |author-link=Emmanuel Todd}}
* Védrine, Hubert. ''France in an Age of Globalization'', Brookings Institution Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8157-0007-5}}. 
* Li, Bo; Zheng Yin (Chinese) (2001) 5000 years of Chinese history, Inner Mongolian People's publishing corp, {{ISBN|7-204-04420-7}}. 
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Superpowers}}
* {{Britannica|1922499}}

{{international power}}

[[Category:Superpowers| ]]
[[Category:20th-century neologisms]]
[[Category:1940s neologisms]]
[[Category:Military terminology]]
[[Category:Hegemony]]
[[Category:International relations theory]]
[[Category:Political science terminology]]
[[Category:Political terminology]]
[[Category:Types of countries]]