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A potential superpower is a sovereign state or other polity that is speculated to be or have the potential to become a superpower; 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 through economic, military, technological, political, and/or cultural means.[1][2][3]
After the United States, which, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, is currently considered to be the world's foremost[4] and sole widely undisputed[5]—and by some accounts only[6][7][8]—superpower, only China, the European Union, India, and Russia have consistently been academically discussed as potential superpowers of the 21st century, with Japan having been a former candidate in the 1980s.
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The People's Republic of China has arguably received the most consistent coverage in the popular press of its potential superpower status,[9][10][11][12][13][14] and has been identified as a rising or emerging economic and military superpower by academics and other experts.[15][16][17][18] One source argued that "China certainly presents the most promising all-round profile" of a potential superpower, having high economic growth and a large population.[19] According to U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, China represents the "biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century" to the United States, as it is "the only country with enough power to jeopardize the current global order".[20]
Great focus has been placed on China's growing economic activity on the global stage, in particular where it has been in competition with the United States. Examples of this have included the establishing and large-scale expansion in countries joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in contrast to traditional western institutions, along with the Belt and Road Initiative and China's role in the worldwide groundings of the Boeing 737 MAX.[21][22] It has also been argued that the future is likely to be of growing competition between two highly dominant countries in the form of the United States and China while others begin to lag behind economically.[23] Predictions have also been made of it overtaking the United States as the world's largest economy in the 2020s.[24] Due to the country's rapidly developing AI industry, China has also been referred to as an "AI superpower".[25][26][27]
In contrast to this however there have been some who question how long this pace of economic growth could continue, with emphasis placed on China's very large but ageing and shrinking population of over 1.4 billion, and long-term effects of pollution within the country that have accumulated during its fast pace of industrialisation, and also that while it continues to grow it has yet to prove attractive to skilled immigration from outside the country in the same way other countries like the United States have.[28][29][30][31] A supposed lack of soft power is another aspect of contention to China's status as a potential superpower.[32][33]
There has been significant discussion around the ability for China to project power militarily. There has been argument that its ties with Russia and Central Asia could see the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation become the "NATO of the East".[34] It has also been argued that American absence from the Indo-Pacific region during the war on terror has allowed Chinese to actively challenge the United States as the pre-eminent power in the region.[35] Others have argued however that China still remains surrounded by potentially hostile nations and still lacks few friends or allies necessary for it to truly compete with the United States.[36]
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The European Union (EU) has been called an emerging superpower or having already achieved that status, primarily to do with its economic power and political influence on the world stage. Factors highlighted have included its large population, the size and global reach of its combined economy, and the comparative unpopularity of US foreign policy.[37][38]
Despite lacking a cohesive military of its own, with military capabilities still the matter of individual member states, it has been argued that this is irrelevant in the 21st century and accordingly so when considering the status of the EU as a potential superpower.[39][40] Others however have questioned this interpretation, instead arguing that its lack of a unified military structure compared to the United States undermines the case that the EU is a potential superpower.[41][42]
The EU's lack of political integration has also come under conflicting views regarding its effect on superpower status. Some have argued that its more "low profile" diplomacy and emphasis on the rule of law represent a new kind of geopolitical influence that fulfills the political requirements for consideration of being a superpower rather than simply failing to meet them.[38][43] Others however argue that its lack of a centralised foreign or defence policy leaves its effectiveness uncertain when compared to that of a more politically integrated union of states such as the United States,[44][19] and it has even been argued that the EU remains as little more than an extension of a Europe reliant or dominated by the United States.[45]
The European Union has been called a "regulatory superpower" due to the Brussels effect, which suggests that regulations and standards applicable in the EU will also be adopted by numerous countries outside the EU over time.[46][47][48]
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The Republic of India has seen considerable coverage of its potential of becoming a superpower economically. Multiple opinions have pointed towards India's rapid economic development as a reason for it to be considered a potential superpower, in particular during the 2010s when it was predicted to outpace China's growth into the future.[49][50][51][52] Economists and researchers at Harvard University have projected India's 7% projected annual growth rate through 2024 would continue to put it ahead of China, making India the fastest growing economy in the world.[53][54] Over and above, India also has the advantage of having a very large and growing young population with a median age of 28, compared to China's median age of 39.[55]
While India's economic growth has continued, others have noted that inequality remains high in the country and that its potential for trading appears more limited compared to regional rivals such as China, and that despite India briefly becoming the world's fastest-growing economy in 2015 its growth declined below China's since 2018.[56][57][58][59][60]
It has also been argued that India's government and bureaucracy is also geared against emerging as a superpower, with it being argued that it "does very little collective thinking about its long-term foreign policy goals, since most of the strategic planning that takes place within the government happens on an individual level".[61]
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Russia, since its imperial times, has been considered both a great power and a regional power. Throughout most of the Soviet-era, the Soviet Union was one of the world's two superpowers. However, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation as its successor state lost its superpower status. In the early 21st century, Russia has been suggested as a potential candidate for resuming superpower status,[62][63][64] while others have made the assertion that it is already a superpower.[65] In his 2005 publication entitled Russia in the 21st Century: The Prodigal Superpower, Steven Rosefielde, a professor of economics at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, predicted that Russia would emerge as a superpower before 2010 and augur another arms race. However, Rosefielde noted that such an end would come with tremendous sacrifice to global security and the Russian people's freedom.[66][page needed] Stephen Kinzer of The Boston Globe compared Russia's actions with its own neighbouring territories, to those of "any other superpower", taking Ukraine and Crimea as examples.[67]
Others however have put forward more pessimistic views towards Russia's ability to regain its superpower status. A mixed opinion has been offered by Matthew Fleischer of the Los Angeles Times, contending that severe climate change would be necessary for much of Russia's inherent natural resources to become viable.[68]
Several analysts commented on the fact that Russia showed signs of an aging and shrinking population. Fred Weir said that this severely constricts and limits Russia's potential to re-emerge as a central world power.[69] In 2011, British historian and professor Niall Ferguson also highlighted the negative effects of Russia's declining population, and suggested that Russia is on its way to "global irrelevance".[70] Russia has, however, shown a slight population growth since the late 2000s, partly due to immigration, quickly rising birth rates, slowly declining death rates.[71]
Russia's ability to project hard power was also questioned following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with the Russian military's poor performance prompting economist Paul Krugman to suggest Russia was little more than a "Potemkin Superpower".[72]
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| Country/Union | Population[73][74] | Area (km2) |
GDP (nominal)[75] | GDP (PPP)[75] | Military expenditures (Int$ billion)[76] |
HDI[77] | UN Security Council veto power | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (USD million) | Per capita ($) | (Int$ million) | Per capita (Int$) | ||||||
 United States |
346,238,081 | 9,525,067 | 25,035,164 | 68,309 | 22,675,271 | 75,180 | 877 | 0.926 (very high) | Yes |
 China |
1,411,778,724 | 9,596,961 | 18,321,197 | 11,819 | 26,656,766 | 21,291 | 292 | 0.761 (high) | Yes |
 European Union |
449,206,209 | 4,233,262 | 17,127,535 | 38,256 | 20,918,062 | 53,960 | 186[78] | 0.911 (very high) | (France) |
 India |
1,456,604,163 | 3,287,263 | 3,468,566 | 3,057 | 10,207,290 | 10,475 | 81.4 | 0.645 (medium) | No |
 Russia |
144,458,123 | 17,125,191 | 2,133,092 | 11,654 | 4,328,122 | 31,967 | 86.4 | 0.824 (very high) | Yes |
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Japan
In the 1980s, some political and economic analysts predicted that Japan would eventually accede to superpower status, due to its large population, growing economic, military, industrial, technological and cultural influence, large gross domestic product, and high economic growth at that time.[79][80][81] Japan's economy was expected to eventually surpass that of the United States.[82][83][80] However, this prediction failed to materialise following a stock market crash and the resulting "Lost Decades", where Japan has suffered a flat to negative economic outlook,[84] while its population has been aging since the late 1980s before suffering real decline in total population starting in 2011.[10][85]
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- American Century
- ASEAN
- Asian Century
- BRIC
- BRICS
- Emerging power
- Energy superpower
- Eurasian Economic Union
- Great power
- List of countries in Europe by military expenditures
- Mercosur
- Post–Cold War era
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
- Second Cold War
- South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
- Superpower collapse
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