Superpowers Flashcards
What is a superpower, give an example?
A country that is able to project its dominance and influence over any country in the world
USA
What is an emerging superpower, give an example?
It is a country that is showing signs of becoming a superpower in the future.
This could be by rapid population growth or rapid economic development
E.g the BRIC nations
What is a regional power, give an example?
A country that commands significant power and influence over the surrounding area but not the whole world.
E.g Brazil in South America
What are the 6 mechanisms of gaining power?
Economic power Political power Military strength Cultural influence Population size Physical size and Natural resources
What is hard power?
Power that uses direct threats and deterrents to gain power.
Most commonly involves military
What is soft power?
Indirectly gaining power using influence
Most commonly culture based power
In your opinion, Which is the most important mechanism of power and why?
Economic power
It is required in order to maintain a lot of the other powers such as Military, Cultural and political power
What is an imperialist system?
A main country controls a lot of power by invading nations and creating colonies which abide by the rules of the home nation
E.g British Empire
What is a Capitalist system, give an example?
Promotes private business and profits. There is a separation between those who own the business and those who work for it
E.g the USA
What is a Communist system, give an example?
Private ownership of business is banned and all businesses are state owned by the people.
Problems often arise where the system becomes a dictatorship and the people have very little
E.g the USSR
What is the worlds reserve currency and what does this mean?
US Dollars
This means countries around the world store dollars in their banks. This means most countries want to maintain a good relationship with nUSA so they can continue to do so
Why is the USA a cultural hegemony?
US consumer culture has become widespread across the world
This can be seen when you look at brand value, 8/10 of the most valuable brands are US based
Why do people believe that USA will lose superpower status?
Global centres of Trade, Manufacturing and Population are shifting towards Asia
Describe Rostow’s Modernisation Theory, give an example of where this has occurred
States that for countries to become developed they must go through an industrial revolution
Explains how UK and USA came to power
Outlines stages of an industrial revolution
Describe Frank’s Dependency Theory, give an example of where this has occurred
Says that there is a developed core and an underdeveloped periphery
The core exploits the periphery by taking its skilled workers and selling its goods in order to keep it poor
The core relies on the periphery being poor in order to make money
E.g British empire
Describe the World Systems theory, give an example of where this has occurred
A more in depth version of dependency theory
Allows countries to move from periphery to semi periphery and finally to core as some nations have (such as China)
Less static than dependency theory
E.g China
What is Neo-colonialism?
A form of indirect control over developing countries most of them former colonies
Often involved economic control with crucifying clauses and taxes like that of the IMF and World Bank
Give an example of Neo-colonialism
In the Philippines workers are payed incredibly low wages and have very little safety in the poor working conditions
This is because they are doing all they can to keep up with the requests of TNC’s for fear of them simply outsourcing to another nation
Describe Mackinder’s heartland theory
Argued that whoever controlled that landmass that is now Europe and Asia (the largest land mass in the world) would have power
This is because the is the. out geo-strategically optimal location
This area was know as the the Heartland
What is meant by a multi-polar world? give an example of where it has occurred in the past
Where there is no single superpower and many countries have large global influence
19th century, many countries had large influence through their empires such as Britain, Netherlands, Belgium, France and Portugal
What is meant by a bi-polar world? give an example of where it has occurred in the past.
Where there are 2 opposing superpowers who both command significant global influence.
e.g The Cold War, where USA and USSR both had dominance but were opposed to each other by their differing political ideologies
Give examples of military influence in the Cold War
The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance formed by USSR and its supporting countries
NATO was formed by the USA and Western European countries
Give examples of cultural influence in the Cold War
In the USA anti-communist propaganda was widespread in the media to maintain fear in the public
What events allowed the US to emerge from the bi-polar world into becoming the global superpower?
Fall of the Berlin Wall
End of East Germany’s communist government
Collapse of the USSR
Why might the emerging superpowers be showing willingness to reducing carbon emissions?
Because it gives them a good image to the public and rest of the world
The government can win the favour of its people as a green future is very popular right now
What are the strengths and weaknesses of Brazil in challenging the US as a new superpower? (power mechanisms)
Strengths:
produces half of South American GDP (economic)
global reputation for football (cultural)
famous for the Rio carnivals (cultural)
Young population (demographic)
High biodiversity (environmental)
World leader in bio-fuels (environmental)
Weaknesses:
Relies on primary products for export (economic)
Corrupt government (political)
Smallest military budget in the BRIC’s (military)
Deforestation, illegal poaching and pollution are major problems (environmental)
What are the strengths and weaknesses of Russia in challenging the US as a new superpower? (power mechanisms)
Strengths:
9th largest economy in the world (economic)
Maintains influence over old USSR nations (political)
Military spending has increased (military)
Large tourist industry (cultural)
Weaknesses:
Large dependance on natural gas and oil makes economy vulnerable (economic)
High economic inequality, 35% of wealth was owned by 110 people (economic)
Pollution remains from industrialisation (environmental)
Give 4 examples of economic IGO’s
World Economic Forum (Davos group)
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
World Bank
World Trade Organisation (WTO)
What is the World Economic Forum?
An annual meeting, where businessmen and politicians talk about wider issues such as corruption and terrorism and how to solve them
Many argue that WEF is ineffective and is more of an opportunity for famous individuals to meet up
What is the aims of the IMF?
To stabilise global currencies
Provide loans to help developing countries reduce poverty
Set up Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP’s) as a condition of these loans
What is the aims of the World Bank?
Aims to support capitalism by giving project loans to developing countries
Aims to eliminate poverty by implementing sustainable goals (e.g the MDG’s)
Provides money after natural disasters and humanitarian disasters
What is the aims of the WTO?
To increase the number of free market economies in the world
Reduce trade barriers
Benefits western economies by ensuring capitalism thrives
