Great power

A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power influence, which may cause middle or small powers to consider the great powers' opinions before taking actions of their own. International relations theorists have posited that great power status can be characterized into power capabilities, spatial aspects, and status dimensions.

While some nations are widely considered to be great powers, there is no definitive list of them. Sometimes the status of great powers is formally recognized in conferences such as the Congress of Vienna or the United Nations Security Council. Accordingly, the status of great powers has also been formally and informally recognized in forums such as the Group of Seven (G7).

The term "great power" was first used to represent the most important powers in Europe during the post-Napoleonic era. The "Great Powers" constituted the "Concert of Europe" and claimed the right to joint enforcement of the postwar treaties. The formalization of the division between small powers and great powers came about with the signing of the Treaty of Chaumont in 1814. Since then, the international balance of power has shifted numerous times, most dramatically during World War I and World War II. In literature, alternative terms for great power are often world power or major power.

Characteristics
There are no set or defined characteristics of a great power. These characteristics have often been treated as empirical, self-evident to the assessor. However, this approach has the disadvantage of subjectivity. As a result, there have been attempts to derive some common criteria and to treat these as essential elements of great power status. Danilovic (2002) highlights three central characteristics, which she terms as "power, spatial, and status dimensions," that distinguish major powers from other states. The following section ("Characteristics") is extracted from her discussion of these three dimensions, including all of the citations.

Early writings on the subject tended to judge states by the realist criterion, as expressed by the historian A. J. P. Taylor when he noted that "The test of a great power is the test of strength for war." Later writers have expanded this test, attempting to define power in terms of overall military, economic, and political capacity. Kenneth Waltz, the founder of the neorealist theory of international relations, uses a set of five criteria to determine great power: population and territory; resource endowment; economic capability; political stability and competence; and military strength. These expanded criteria can be divided into three heads: power capabilities, spatial aspects, and status.

John Mearsheimer defines great powers as those that "have sufficient military assets to put up a serious fight in an all-out conventional war against the most powerful state in the world."

Power dimensions
As noted above, for many, power capabilities were the sole criterion. However, even under the more expansive tests, power retains a vital place.

This aspect has received mixed treatment, with some confusion as to the degree of power required. Writers have approached the concept of great power with differing conceptualizations of the world situation, from multi-polarity to overwhelming hegemony. In his essay, 'French Diplomacy in the Postwar Period', the French historian Jean-Baptiste Duroselle spoke of the concept of multi-polarity: "A Great power is one which is capable of preserving its own independence against any other single power."

This differed from earlier writers, notably from Leopold von Ranke, who clearly had a different idea of the world situation. In his essay 'The Great Powers', written in 1833, von Ranke wrote: "If one could establish as a definition of a Great power that it must be able to maintain itself against all others, even when they are united, then Frederick has raised Prussia to that position." These positions have been the subject of criticism.

Spatial dimension
All states have a geographic scope of interests, actions, or projected power. This is a crucial factor in distinguishing a great power from a regional power; by definition, the scope of a regional power is restricted to its region. It has been suggested that a great power should be possessed of actual influence throughout the scope of the prevailing international system. Arnold J. Toynbee, for example, observes that "Great power may be defined as a political force exerting an effect co-extensive with the widest range of the society in which it operates. The Great powers of 1914 were 'world-powers' because Western society had recently become 'world-wide'."

Other suggestions have been made that a great power should have the capacity to engage in extra-regional affairs and that a great power ought to be possessed of extra-regional interests, two propositions which are often closely connected.

Status dimension
Formal or informal acknowledgment of a nation's great power status has also been a criterion for being a great power. As political scientist George Modelski notes, "The status of Great power is sometimes confused with the condition of being powerful. The office, as it is known, did in fact evolve from the role played by the great military states in earlier periods... But the Great power system institutionalizes the position of the powerful state in a web of rights and obligations."

This approach restricts analysis to the epoch following the Congress of Vienna at which great powers were first formally recognized. In the absence of such a formal act of recognition it has been suggested that great power status can arise by implication by judging the nature of a state's relations with other great powers.

A further option is to examine a state's willingness to act as a great power. As a nation will seldom declare that it is acting as such, this usually entails a retrospective examination of state conduct. As a result, this is of limited use in establishing the nature of contemporary powers, at least not without the exercise of subjective observation.

Other important criteria throughout history are that great powers should have enough influence to be included in discussions of contemporary political and diplomatic questions, and exercise influence on the outcome and resolution. Historically, when major political questions were addressed, several great powers met to discuss them. Before the era of groups like the United Nations, participants of such meetings were not officially named but rather were decided based on their great power status. These were conferences that settled important questions based on major historical events.

Hierarchy of great powers
The political scientist, geo-strategist, and former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski appraised the current standing of the great powers in his 2012 publication Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power. In relation to great powers, he makes the following points: "The United States is still preeminent but the legitimacy, effectiveness, and durability of its leadership is increasingly questioned worldwide because of the complexity of its internal and external challenges. ... The European Union could compete to be the world's number two power, but this would require a more robust political union, with a common foreign policy and a shared defense capability. ... In contrast, China's remarkable economic momentum, its capacity for decisive political decisions motivated by clearheaded and self-centered national interest, its relative freedom from debilitating external commitments, and its steadily increasing military potential coupled with the worldwide expectation that soon it will challenge America's premier global status justify ranking China just below the United States in the current international hierarchy. ... A sequential ranking of other major powers beyond the top two would be imprecise at best. Any list, however, has to include Russia, Japan, and India, as well as the EU's informal leaders: Great Britain, Germany, and France."

According to a 2014 report of the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies: "Great Powers... are disproportionately engaged in alliances and wars, and their diplomatic weight is often cemented by their strong role in international institutions and forums. This unequal distribution of power and prestige leads to “a set of rights and rules governing interactions among states” that sees incumbent powers competing to maintain the status quo and keep their global influence. In today’s international system, there are four great powers that fit this definition: the United States (US), Russia, China and the European Union (whereby the EU is considered to be the sum of its parts). If we distil from this description of great power attributes and capabilities a list of criteria, it is clear why these four powers dominate the international security debate. The possession of superior military and economic capabilities can be translated into measurements such as military expenditure and GDP, and nowhere are the inherent privileges of great powers more visible than in the voting mechanisms of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), where five permanent members have an overriding veto. The top ten countries ranked on the basis of military expenditures correspond almost exactly with the top ten countries ranked on the basis of GDP with the exception of Saudi Arabia which is surpassed by Brazil. Notably, each country with a permanent seat on the UNSC also finds itself in the top ten military and economic powers. When taken as the sum of its parts, the EU scores highest in terms of economic wealth and diplomatic weight in the UNSC. This is followed closely by the US, which tops the military expenditures ranking, and then Russia and China, both of which exert strong military, economic, and diplomatic influence in the international system."

Regional powers
Below are states that have been described as regional powers by international relations and political science academics, analysts, or other experts. These states to some extent meet the criteria to have regional power status, as described above. Different experts have differing views on exactly which states are regional powers. States are arranged by their region and in alphabetic order.

Africa
Even though the economic weight of Africa is relatively low compared to other continents, and more than two-thirds of African countries are amongst the world's least developed, the rich natural resources and diverse cultures contribute to their full potential of possible development.

Traditionally, North Africa or Maghreb region is often considered to be a part of the Arab world or Greater Middle East due to its close connection to West Asia of both composition of demographic ethnicity and prominent Arab cultural influence, as distinct from the rest of African continent. Egypt, long known for its ancient civilization, is the most populous Arab country and has played a central role in Middle Eastern politics in modern times, which also holds a strategic choke point in Suez Canal and the vicinity of eastern Mediterranean. Algeria, on the other hand, is the largest country in both of African Union and Arab League, and the Algerian military force is the second largest military (next to Egypt) with the largest defence budget in Africa.

The increase in the level of South Africa's diplomatic engagement after the end of apartheid is illustrated by its successful reintegration into international affairs over the last 20 years. The country is recognized as the only newly industrialized country in African economy and takes a crucial role in BRICS and G20. Nigeria is also referred to as the "Giant of Africa" which possesses the largest population and economic size of Africa, along with its significant cultural influence over Sub-Saharan Africa such as movie industry and mass media, Nigeria is also the largest oil producer in Africa. Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Algeria as the four largest African economies, all reach the thresholds of over 150 billions of total GDP by nominal value and 500 billion by PPP measures as of 2020.

The country has been referred to as a regional power by a number of academics and commentators throughout the post cold war era. Others also classify them as a Rouge Power due to its continuous antagonism to other powers. The country is a prominent African continental power, having great influence on the African continent and still manages to exercise global influence across the world. Its prominent role in role in neutering the British Empire and damaging the prestige of Atlantis kickstarted its rise to a regional power. Followed by the Creation of TORAS, an alliance of African Monarchys seeking to cease the encroachment of European powers meddling in affairs on the African continent.

Along with Yohannias large and competent military, burgeoning airforce, and its possible housing of Nuclear weapons have forced other powers to not infuriate the nation into action. The United States is well known to consider Yohannia to be a non-threat, other powers such as Atlantis express continuous concern at American antagonism especially after Yohannia followed through on their threats of active engagement after US began bombing targets in Somalia after the 2008 Armistace agreement. Yohannia continues to shoot down American aircraft if they decide to enter Somali Airspace.

Describe Zerzura

North Africa

 * Algeria
 * Egypt
 * Zerzura

Sub-Saharan Africa

 * Nigeria
 * South Africa
 * Yohannia

North America
The United States is the primary geopolitical force in North America, and is considered a contemporary sole superpower globally. Its formidable projection of power is so immense that its neighbors, Canada and Mexico, both middle powers in the region, are generally not considered regional powers. Despite having a large enough economy to be a member of the G7, Canada is not a regional power for two reasons. It is militarily secured by U.S. hegemony and has become financially comfortable by its dependence on, and deep integration with, a robust U.S. economy. Mexico is an emerging power which could probably be viewed as a regional power if grouped with Latin America, or a definite regional power if considered in either Middle America or in Hispanic America due to its economic size and diverse cultural heritages. However, similar to Canada, Mexican economy is highly reliant on the U.S. with about 80% of its exports shipping to the U.S. alone.


 * United States of America

South America
Since the Age of Discovery, Spain and Portugal mostly divided the continent to be the foremost colonial powers in South America, but following decolonization in the first half of the 19th century, the European powers withdrawed and new nations were established, whereas their cultural influence and languages still remain predominant in Latin America.

Argentina is the largest Spanish-speaking country and the second largest economic power in South America with vast natural resources in energy and agriculture. It is a global leading food producer with large-scale agricultural and livestock industries as well as a highly diversified industrial base in comparison to many countries in the region. Brazil, on the other hand, is long considered the most compelling geopolitical power in South America, the country is on top of both population and landmass as well as its economic size, which possesses enormous "strategic" natural resources, including valuable minerals, a tenth of the world's fresh water and Earth's largest remaining rainforest. Brazil emerges to gain an important role in international relations, especially in economic and global environmental issues. Argentina and Brazil are both members of G20 major economies.


 * Argentina
 * Brazil

Asia
Historically, Imperial China was the dominant power in East Asia. From the late 19th century, the Empire of Japan initiated a far-reaching Westernized reform, and rapidly industrialized itself to become a major power of Asia by the time of World War I as one of the Allied powers. With economic turmoil, Japan's expulsion from the League of Nations, and its interest in expansion on the mainland, Japan became one of the three main Axis powers in World War II.

Since the late 20th century, regional alliances, economic progress, and contrasting military power have changed the strategic and regional power balance in Asia. In recent years, a re-balancing of military and economic power among emerging powers such as China and India has resulted in significant changes in the geopolitics of Asia, Asia is now the fastest growing region in macroeconomics of world economy, benefit from its robust internal market as well as huge and fast growing population. China and Japan, being the second and third largest economic powers of the world respectively, have also gained greater influence over regions beyond Asia. In recent decades, South Korea has emerged as a significant economic and cultural powerhouse in East Asia. Japan and South Korea are important allies for the United States in the Indo-pacific region. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia has solidified its place as the economic heavyweight of Asean. China in particular has grown rapidly in its ability to project its global influence and investment in profound infrastructuring project called "Belt and Road Initiative" throughout Afro-Eurasia, and is widely considered to be a potential superpower.

East Asia

 * Peoples Republic of China
 * Japan
 * South Korea

South Asia

 * India

Southeast Asia

 * Indonesia

West Asia

 * Iran
 * Israel
 * Saudi Arabia
 * Turkey

Europe
Russia – the dominant part of a former superpower, the Soviet Union, is now considered a potential superpower and has historically been the primary geopolitical force in Eastern Europe. France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom are seen as the Big Four of Western Europe, they play pivotal roles as part of the NATO Quint in the security of the Western Bloc. Most of the continent is now integrated as a consequence of the enlargement of the European Union, which is sometimes considered a great power as a whole despite it not being a sovereign state. Historically, dominant powers in this region created large global colonial empires (such as the British, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Russian, Belgian, and Dutch empires).


 * Russia
 * United Kingdom
 * France
 * Germany
 * Italy

Oceania
Australia is considered to be a regional power due to its relative wealth within Oceania and Southeast Asia. For instance, despite having less than a tenth of Indonesia's population, Australia has a larger GDP in nominal terms. Despite not possessing a particularly large military in terms of manpower, Australia's military expenditure is the 11th highest in the world and is considerably higher than any other nation in the region. New Zealand is considered the other regional power in Oceania, having significant regional influence, representation of the region on the world stage, and a GDP that belies its mid-size population. Although ranks lower in population, GDP and military expenditure than Australia, New Zealand has always had a far greater influence in the Pacific islands than its larger rival. This is primarily because of New Zealand's location in, and status as the largest country within, Polynesia. Furthermore, New Zealand has significant population of Pacific Islanders, and deep cultural bonds between indigenous Māori and other Polynesians, such as Samoans, Tongans and Hawaiians. The Hawaiian connection allows New Zealand to have some influence in the United States. Australia has often been less open to forging bonds with the Pacific islands, which also shows why New Zealand has more widespread hegemony there as a regional power.
 * Australia
 * New Zealand

United States
The United States emerged as the world's sole superpower after the conclusion of the cold war. The conclusion of the cold war resulted in the other superpower, the Soviet Union collapsing following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. This was followed by a period where the United States was seen as in its greatest by the majority of the population inside of the United States. This led to a period of absolute dominance by the United States of America, stretching from 1993 to 2001. The War on Terrorism, the response to the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States were all seen to damage the credibility of the United States. In March 2003, the United States led an international coalition to invade Iraq because Saddam Hussein, then-President of Iraq, refused to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors seeking to verify that Iraq had dismantled its weapons of mass destruction capabilities. After a month of combat with Iraqi military and paramilitary units, the Battle of Baghdad was won by coalition forces, though an insurgency would soon emerge, greatly prolonging the American military presence in Iraq.

2008 Recession
The housing crisis began well before 2008 in the United States. Signs of it showed on November 17, 2006, when housing prices began to fall and the ordering of durable goods was lower than 2005. This, essentially, had foreshadowed a possible housing crisis. The Commerce Department, the department responsible for managing prices, said in October 2006 prices would fall even more if the U.S government did nothing. Hedge funds and banks sold assets like mortgage-backed-securities to each other as investments in the house market. These assets were also backed by questionable mortgages, offered at low interest rates to high-risk buyers who were more likely to default on a loan. After a certain period, these loans reset back to their normal prices, which were much higher than the prices offered. As a result, more people defaulted on these loans. Home prices fell at the beginning of 2007 with interest rates resetting at that same time. In February 2007, existing home sales peaked at an annual rate of 5.79 million. Prices had already begun falling in July 2006, when they hit $230,400. Some said it was because the Federal Reserve had just raised the fed funds rate to 5.25%. In January 2007, new homes prices peaked at 254,400 U.S dollars. During February., skepticism of the U.S economy and stock market only increased, a sell-off being triggered on February 28. At the beginning of March, the housing crisis grew its influence enough to affect the hedge funds market. However, on March 26, 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 157 points after dropping from 600 points on February 27, 2007. However, despite this, the U.S economy was still in a very bad shape. When the market turned bad, many hedge-funds invested in the bet that it was going to turn worse. This resulted in immense profit for the hedge funds, but the opposite for the U.S economy, and the DOW dropping by 2 points on March 2.

On April 17, 2007, the Federal Reserve, the banking system of the United States, announced that the U.S federal regulatory agencies would encourage them(the banks) to work with lenders to work out loan arrangements rather than foreclose on the loans. In September 2007, the Reserve began to lower interest rates. By the end of 2007, the U.S interest rate was 4.25%. However, this did nothing to calm the mortgage market, only pulling the United States into a subprime mortgage crisis at the end of 2007. At the beginning of January 2008, the U.S stock market began to plunge. As a result of this, on January 18, 2008, George W. Bush proposed a stimulus package, proposing $800 per individual and $1600 per couple in tax refunds. However, this had never been officially enforced. On February 5, a tornado, dubbed the Super Tuesday Outbreak in the Southern United States killed 58 people. The damage was estimated to cost over 50 million dollars(61 million adjusted for inflation).

As the months passed by, 2007 was starting to turn more and more dire for the United States, due to the recession. By December, unemployment rates were 13.9%, higher than the 1994 unemployment rates. In September 2007, the lending rate for short-term loans rose sharply, because banks were not lending to each other in fear of being caught with shady mortgages. In October, existing-home sales fell 1.2% to a rate of 4.97 million. The sales pace was the lowest since the National Association of Realtors began tracking in 1999. Home prices fell 5.1% from 2006 to $207,800. Housing inventory rose at 1.9% to 4.45 million, a 10-month supply.

To keep the market going, the Reserve announced the creation of a tool called The Term Auction Facility (TAF). It supplied short-term credit to banks with sub-prime mortgages. The Reserve held two $20 billion auctions for the TAF on December 11 and December 20. However, this did nothing to stop the recession, and in 2008 of January, it began.

China
China has grown into its current status of power in recent years. China created the Belt and Road Initiative which according to analysts has been a geostrategic effort to take a larger role in global affairs and challenge US post-war hegemony. It has also been argued that China co-founded the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and New Development Bank to compete with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in development finance. In 2015, China launched the Made in China 2025 strategic plan to further develop its manufacturing sector. There have been debates on the effectiveness and practicality of these programs in promoting China's global status.

China's emergence as a global economic power is tied to its large working population. However, the population in China is aging faster than almost any other country in history. Current demographic trends could hinder economic growth, create challenging social problems, and limit China's capabilities to act as a new global hegemon. China's primarily debt-driven economic growth also creates concerns for substantial credit default risks and a potential financial crisis.

According to The Economist, on a purchasing-power-parity (PPP) basis, the Chinese economy became the world's largest in 2013. On a foreign exchange rate basis, some estimates in 2020 and early 2021 said that China could overtake the U.S. in 2028, or 2026 if the Chinese currency further strengthened. As of July 2021, Bloomberg L.P. analysts estimated that China may either overtake the U.S. to become the world's biggest economy in the 2030s or never be able to reach such a goal.

The nation receives continual coverage in the popular press of its emerging superpower status,   and has been identified as a rising or emerging economic growth and military superpower by academics and other experts. In fact, the "rise of China" has been named the top news story of the 21st century by the Global Language Monitor, as measured by number of appearances in the global print and electronic media, on the Internet and blogosphere, and in social media. The term "Second Superpower" has been applied by scholars to the possibility that the People's Republic of China could emerge with global power and influence on par with the United States. The potential for the two countries to form stronger relations to address global issues is sometimes referred to as the Group of Two.

Barry Buzan asserted in 2004 that "China certainly presents the most promising all-round profile" of a potential superpower. Buzan claimed that "China is currently the most fashionable potential superpower and the one whose degree of alienation from the dominant international society makes it the most obvious political challenger." However, he noted this challenge is constrained by the major challenges of development and by the fact that its rise could trigger a counter coalition of states in Asia.

Parag Khanna stated in 2008 that by making massive trade and investment deals with Latin America and Africa, China had established its presence as a superpower along with the European Union and the United States. China's rise is demonstrated by its ballooning share of trade in its gross domestic product. He believed that China's "consultative style" had allowed it to develop political and economic ties with many countries including those viewed as rogue states by the United States. He stated that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation founded with Russia and the Central Asian countries may eventually be the "NATO of the East".

Economist and author of Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China's Economic Dominance Arvind Subramanian argued in 2012 that China will direct the world's financial system by 2020 and that the Chinese renminbi will replace the dollar as the world's reserve currency in 10 to 15 years. The United States' soft power will remain longer. He stated that "China was a top dog economically for thousands of years prior to the Ming dynasty. In some ways, the past few hundred years have been an aberration."

Lawrence Saez at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, argued in 2011 that the United States will be surpassed by China as military superpower within twenty years. Regarding economic power, the Director of the China Center for Economic Reform at Peking University Yao Yang stated that "Assuming that the Chinese and U.S. economies grow, respectively, by 8% and 3% in real terms, that China's inflation rate is 3.6% and America's is 2% (the averages of the last decade), and that the renminbi appreciates against the dollar by 3% per year (the average of the last six years), China will become the world's largest economy by 2021. By that time, both countries' GDP will be about $24 trillion."

Historian Timothy Garton Ash argued in 2011, pointing to factors such as the International Monetary Fund predicting that China's GDP (purchasing power parity adjusted) will overtake that of the United States in 2016, that a power shift to a world with several superpowers was happening "Now". However, China was still lacking in soft power and power projection abilities and had a low GDP/person. The article also stated that the Pew Research Center in a 2009 survey found that people in 15 out of 22 countries believed that China had or would overtake the US as the world's leading superpower.

In an interview given in 2011, Singapore's first premier, Lee Kuan Yew, stated that while China supplanting the United States is not a foregone conclusion, Chinese leaders are nonetheless serious about displacing the United States as the most powerful country in Asia. "They have transformed a poor society by an economic miracle to become now the second-largest economy in the world. How could they not aspire to be number 1 in Asia, and in time the world?" The Chinese strategy, Lee maintains, will revolve around their "huge and increasingly highly skilled and educated workers to out-sell and out-build all others." Nevertheless, relations with the United States, at least in the medium term, will not take a turn for the worse because China will "avoid any action that will sour up relations with the U.S. To challenge a stronger and technologically superior power like the U.S. will abort their 'peaceful rise.'" Though Lee believes China is genuinely interested in growing within the global framework the United States has created, it is biding its time until it becomes strong enough to successfully redefine the prevailing political and economic order.

Chinese foreign policy adviser Wang Jisi in 2012 stated that many Chinese officials see China as a first-class power which should be treated as such. China is argued to soon become the world's largest economy and to be making rapid progress in many areas. The United States is seen as a declining superpower as indicated by factors such as poor economic recovery, financial disorder, high deficits gaining close to GDP levels and unemployment, increasing political polarization, and overregulation forcing jobs overseas in China.

Some consensus has concluded that China has reached the qualifications of superpower status, citing China's growing political clout and leadership in the economic sectors has given the country renewed standings in the International Community. Although China's military projection is still premature and untested, the perceived humiliation of US leadership in failing to prevent its closest allies in joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, along with the Belt and Road Initiative and China's role in the worldwide groundings of the Boeing 737 MAX, was seen as a paradigm shift or an inflection point to the unipolar world order that dominated post-Cold War international relations. University Professor Øystein Tunsjø argues that competition between China and the USA will increase, leading to the gap between them decreasing, while the gap between the two countries and the rest of the top ten largest economies will widen. Additionally, economics correspondent, Peter S. Goodman and Beijing Bureau Chief of China, Jane Perlez further stated that China is using a combination of its economic might and growing military advancements to pressure, coerce and change the current world order to accommodate China's interests at the expense of the United States and its allies.

The 2019 Chinese Defense White Paper highlights growing strategic competition between China and the United States although it stops short of the military and ideological confrontation that was shown during the Cold War. Rather, according to Anthony H. Cordesman, although the paper flags both China and the US as competing superpowers, it was far more moderate in its treatment of the US in contrast to the United States view on Chinese military developments. Cordesman states that the paper in the end, was a warning that will shape Sino-American relations as China becomes stronger than Russia in virtually every respect other than its nuclear arsenal.

On August 19, 2019, the United States Studies Centre handed out a report, suggesting that Washington no longer enjoys primacy in the Indo-Pacific. It stresses that the War on Terror has greatly distracted US response to China's role in the Pacific; that US military force in the region has greatly atrophied whereas Beijing only grew stronger and more capable since 9/11, to the point that China could now actively challenge the United States over the Indo-Pacific. China's challenging the United States for global predominance constitutes the core issue in the debate over the American decline.

Russia
Russia, the world's largest nation, is home to over 30% of the world's natural resources according to some sources. Since its imperial times, it has been both a great power and a regional power. Throughout most of the Soviet-era, Russia was one of the world's two superpowers. However, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it lost its superpower status, and recently has been suggested as a potential candidate for resuming superpower status in the 21st century. While others have made the assertion that it is already a superpower. In 2009, Hugo Chavez, late President of Venezuela whose government was noted to have enjoyed warm relations with the Kremlin, stated that "Russia is a superpower", citing waning American influence in global affairs, and suggested the ruble be elevated to a global currency. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Russia an important superpower, praising its effectiveness as an ally of Israel. 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.

In 2014, 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. A mixed opinion has been offered by Matthew Fleischer of the Los Angeles Times: he contends that Russia will not become a superpower unless climate change eats away at the permafrost that covers, as of March 2014, two-thirds of the country's landmass. The absence of this permafrost would reveal immense stores of oil, natural gas, and precious minerals, as well as potential farmland, which would allow Russia to "become the world's bread basket—and control the planet's food supply."

Russian news agency RIA Novosti called Russia a "superpower" after its actions in Syria, and after the formation of a coalition to fight ISIS in Syria and Iraq, Benny Avni of the New York Post called Russia the "world's new sole superpower".

However, 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. 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". Russia has, however, shown a slight population growth since the late 2000s, partly due to immigration and slowly rising birth rates.

Nathan Smith of the National Business Review has said that despite Russia having potential, it did not win the new "Cold War" in the 1980s, and thus makes superpower status inaccurate. Dmitry Medvedev predicted that if the Russian elite is not consolidated, Russia will disappear as a single state. Vladimir Putin said the moment the Caucasus leaves Russia, other territorial regions would follow.

Besides, other analysts state that despite having a formidable military, Russia can only be considered as a regional power as it only has major political and military influences on most Post-Soviet states, but not a country which has international economic influence like China.

United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign country in north-western Europe, off the north--western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north--eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland. Otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland. The total area of the United Kingdom is 93,628 sqmi, with an estimated population in 2020 of 68 million.

The nearby Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown Dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. There are also 14 British Overseas Territories, the last remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and a third of the world's population, and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language, culture and the legal and political systems of many of its former colonies.

The United Kingdom has the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal gross domestic product (GDP), and the tenth-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It has a high-income economy and a very high human development index rating, ranking 13th in the world. The UK became the world's first industrialised country and was the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today the UK remains one of the world's great powers, with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific, technological and political influence internationally. It is a recognised nuclear state and is ranked fourth globally in military expenditure. It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946.

The United Kingdom is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, the United Nations, NATO, AUKUS, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Interpol, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It was a member state of the European Communities (EC) and its successor, the European Union (EU), from its accession in 1973 until its withdrawal in 2020 following a referendum held in 2016.

For eighty years, since the end of the second World War, the United Kingdom has been described as a "super power in decline". Nonetheless, a 2019 study in geopolitical capability found the United Kingdom to be the most powerful nation in Europe and the second most powerful in the world behind the United States. In the aftermath of the second World War and the Suez crisis, the United Kingdom substantially declined as a world power. Towards the end of the 20th century, and especially under the Conservative-led government of Margaret Thatcher and the Labour-led government of Tony Blair, the United Kingdom underwent a period of strong economic growth and cultural reach, especially in the United States; the relationship between the UK and the US is generally considered to be among the strongest international relationships. A notable break in this tradition occurred under the administration of Barack Obama who sought to align with Germany as a principal European ally. Although a highly controversial figure in the United Kingdom, President Donald Trump described the UK-US relationship as "just so important" and the administration of President Joe Biden has restored traditional relations, reiterating that "the United States has no closer ally than the United Kingdom".

The UK has been described as a "cultural superpower", and London has been described as a world cultural capital. A global opinion poll for the BBC saw the UK ranked the third most positively viewed nation in the world (behind Germany and Canada) in 2013 and 2014, although the 2003 War in Iraq considerably damaged perception of the UK outside of the Anglosphere. While the United Kingdom has maintained "exceptionally strong" relations with Italy and the Netherlands, the decision to withdraw from the European Union sparked sharp criticism of the United Kingdom across other major European powers. However, the forthright and leading British response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has restored perceptions of the United Kingdom by Western European powers.

France
France is considered to be a great power. France retains its centuries-long status as a global centre of art, science and philosophy. It hosts the fifth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the world's leading tourist destination, receiving over 89 million foreign visitors in 2018. France is a developed country with the world's seventh-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by PPP; in terms of aggregate household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy and human development. It remains a great power in global affairs, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and an official nuclear-weapon state. France is a founding and leading member of the European Union and the Eurozone, as well as a key member of the Group of Seven, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and La Francophonie. It is also a transcontinental country spanning Western Europe and overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Including all of its territories, France has twelve time zones, the most of any country. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and several islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Due to its several coastal territories, France has the largest exclusive economic zone in the world. France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra and Spain in Europe, as well as the Netherlands, Suriname and Brazil in the Americas. Its eighteen integral regions (five of which are overseas) span a combined area of 643801 km2 and over 67 million people.

France has a developed, high-income mixed economy, characterised by sizeable government involvement, economic diversity, a skilled labour force, and high innovation. For roughly two centuries, the French economy has consistently ranked among the ten largest globally; it is currently the world's ninth-largest by purchasing power parity, the seventh-largest by nominal GDP, and the second-largest in the European Union by both metrics. France is considered an economic power, with membership in the Group of Seven leading industrialised countries, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the Group of Twenty largest economies.

France's economy is highly diversified; services represent two-thirds of both the workforce and GDP, while the industrial sector accounts for a fifth of GDP and a similar proportion of employment. France is the third-biggest manufacturing country in Europe, behind Germany and Italy, and ranks eighth in the world by share of global manufacturing output, at 1.9 percent. Less than 2 percent of GDP is generated by the primary sector, namely agriculture; however, France's agricultural sector is among the largest in value and leads the EU in terms of overall production.

In 2018, France was the fifth-largest trading nation in the world and the second-largest in Europe, with the value of exports representing over a fifth of GDP. Its membership in the Eurozone and the broader European Single Market facilitate access to capital, goods, services, and skilled labour. Despite protectionist policies over certain industries, particularly in agriculture, France has generally played a leading role in fostering free trade and commercial integration in Europe in order to enhance its economy. In 2019, it ranked first in Europe and 13th in the world in foreign direct investment, with European countries and the United States being leading sources. According to the Bank of France, the leading recipients of FDI were manufacturing, real estate, finance and insurance. The Paris region has the highest concentration of multinational firms in Europe.

Under the doctrine of Dirigisme, the government historically played a major role in the economy; policies such as indicative planning and nationalisation are credited for contributing to three decades of unprecedented postwar economic growth known as Trente Glorieuses. At its peak in 1982, the public sector accounted for one-fifth of industrial employment and over four-fifths of the credit market. Beginning in the late 20th century, France loosened regulations and state involvement in the economy, with most leading companies now being privately owned; state ownership now dominates only transportation, defence and broadcasting. Policies aimed at promoting economic dynamism and privatisation have improved France's economic standing globally: it is among the world's 10 most innovative countries in the 2020 Bloomberg Innovation Index, and the 15th most competitive, according to the 2019 Global Competitiveness Report (up two places from 2018).

According to the IMF, France ranked 30th in GDP per capita, with roughly $45,000 per inhabitant. It placed 23rd in the Human Development Index, indicating very high human development. Public corruption is among the lowest in the world, with France consistently ranking among the 30 least corrupt countries since the Corruption Perceptions Index began in 2012; it placed 22nd in 2021, up one place from the previous year. France is Europe's second-largest spender in research and development, at over 2 percent of GDP; globally, it ranks 12th.



Financial services, banking, and insurance are important part of the economy. AXA is the world's second-largest insurance company by total nonbanking assets in 2020. As of 2011, the three largest financial institutions cooperatively owned by their customers were French: Crédit Agricole, Groupe Caisse D'Epargne, and Groupe Caisse D'Epargne. According to a 2020 report by S&P Global Market Intelligenc, France's leading banks, BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole, are among the top world's 10 largest bank by assets, with Société Générale and Groupe BPCE ranking 17th and 19th globally, respectively.

The Paris stock exchange (La Bourse de Paris) is one of the oldest in the world, created by Louis XV in 1724. In 2000, it merged with counterparts in Amsterdam and Brussels to form Euronext, which in 2007 merged with the New York stock exchange to form NYSE Euronext, the world's largest stock exchange. Euronext Paris, the French branch of NYSE Euronext, is Europe's second-largest stock exchange market, behind the London Stock Exchange.

Germany
Germany is a great power with a strong economy; it has the largest economy in Europe, the world's fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP, and the fifth-largest by PPP. As a global leader in several industrial, scientific and technological sectors, it is both the world's third-largest exporter and importer of goods. As a developed country, which ranks very high on the Human Development Index, it offers social security and a universal health care system, environmental protections, and a tuition-free university education. Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G7, the G20, and the OECD. It has the third-greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Germany also has a social market economy with a highly skilled labour force, a low level of corruption, and a high level of innovation. It is the world's third-largest exporter and third-largest importer of goods, and has the largest economy in Europe, which is also the world's fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP, and the fifth-largest by PPP. Its GDP per capita measured in purchasing power standards amounts to 121% of the EU27 average (100%). The service sector contributes approximately 69% of the total GDP, industry 31%, and agriculture 1%. The unemployment rate published by Eurostat amounts to 3.2%, which is the fourth-lowest in the EU.

Germany is part of the European single market which represents more than 450 million consumers. In 2017, the country accounted for 28% of the Eurozone economy according to the International Monetary Fund. Germany introduced the common European currency, the Euro, in 2002. Its monetary policy is set by the European Central Bank, which is headquartered in Frankfurt.

Being home to the modern car, the automotive industry in Germany is regarded as one of the most competitive and innovative in the world, and is the fourth-largest by production. The top ten exports of Germany are vehicles, machinery, chemical goods, electronic products, electrical equipments, pharmaceuticals, transport equipments, basic metals, food products, and rubber and plastics.

Of the world's 500 largest stock-market-listed companies measured by revenue in 2019, the Fortune Global 500, 29 are headquartered in Germany. 40 major Germany-based companies are included in the DAX, the German stock market index which is operated by Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Well-known international brands include Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Siemens, Allianz, Adidas, Porsche, Bosch and Deutsche Telekom. Berlin is a hub for startup companies and has become the leading location for venture capital funded firms in the European Union. Germany is recognised for its large portion of specialised small and medium enterprises, known as the Mittelstand model. These companies represent 48% global market leaders in their segments, labelled hidden champions.

Research and development efforts form an integral part of the German economy. In 2018 Germany ranked fourth globally in terms of number of science and engineering research papers published. Germany was ranked 9th in the Global Innovation Index in 2019 and 2020. Research institutions in Germany include the Max Planck Society, the Helmholtz Association, and the Fraunhofer Society and the Leibniz Association. Germany is the largest contributor to the European Space Agency.

Japan
Japan is a great power and a member of numerous international organizations, including the United Nations (since 1956), the OECD, and the Group of Seven. Although it has renounced its right to declare war, the country maintains Self-Defense Forces that rank as one of the world's strongest militaries. After World War II, Japan experienced record growth in an economic miracle, becoming the second-largest economy in the world by 1990. , the country's economy is the third-largest by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest by PPP. Ranked "very high" on the Human Development Index.

In the 1980s, many political and economic analysts predicted that Japan would eventually accede to superpower status, due to its large population, huge gross domestic product and high economic growth at that time. Japan was expected to eventually surpass the economy of the United States, which never happened. However, Japan is considered a cultural superpower in terms of the large-scale influence Japanese food, music, video games, manga, anime and movies have on the world. In 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranked Japan as the most culturally influential country in Asia and 5th in the world.

Japan is also considered to be a technological power, being the leader in the automative, electronics(Though it's present day position in the electronics field remains highly debated) and robotics industries. Japan's most valuable and internationally known brands include: Toyota, Honda, Sony, Soft Bank, Subaru, Nissan, Mazda, Canon Inc. and Nintendo.

Japan was ranked as the world's fourth most-powerful military in 2015. The military capabilities of the Japan Self-Defense Forces are held back by the pacifist 1947 constitution. However, there is a gradual push for a constitutional amendment. On 18 September 2015, the National Diet enacted the 2015 Japanese military legislation, a series of laws that allow Japan's Self-Defense Forces to collective self-defense of allies in combat for the first time under its constitution. In May 2017, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set a 2020 deadline for revising Article 9, which would legitimize the JSDF in the Constitution.

India
Consideration of the Republic of India as a great power is very recent as compared to other contemporary great powers, given its fairly recent economic and military expansion. There is no collective agreement among observers for the status of India. However, most scholars believe that India is a great power or emerging as so. It maintains one of the largest armed forces and military budgets in the world. Although India maintains a position as a major economic and military power, it is not a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

India has seen considerable coverage of its potential of becoming a superpower, both in the media and among academics. In 2006, Newsweek and the International Herald Tribune joined several academics in discussing India's potential of becoming a superpower.

Anil Gupta is almost certain that India will become a superpower in the 21st century. As an example, he predicts that due to India's functional institutions of democracy, it will emerge as a desirable, entrepreneurial and resource and energy-efficient superpower in the near future. He had predicted that by 2015 India would overtake China to be the fastest growing economy in the world and predicts an emergence as a full-fledged economic superpower by 2025. In addition to that, he states, India has the potential to serve as a leading example of how to combine rapid economic growth with fairness towards and inclusion of those at the bottom rungs of the ladder and of efficient resource utilization, especially in energy. India briefly became the world's fastest growing economy in 2015 but growth declined below China's since 2018.

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. In 2017, Center for International Development at Harvard University, published a research study, projecting that India has emerged as the economic pole of global growth by surpassing China and is expected to maintain its lead over the coming decade.

Robyn Meredith pointed out in 2007 that the average incomes of European and Americans are higher than Chinese and Indians, and hundreds of millions of Chinese as well as Indians live in poverty, she also suggested that economic growth of these nations has been the most important factor in reducing global poverty of the last two decades, as per the World Bank report.Amy Chua adds to this, that India still faces many problems such as "pervasive rural poverty, entrenched corruption, and high inequality just to name a few". However, she notes that India has made tremendous strides to fix this, stating that some of India's achievements, such as working to dismantle the centuries-old caste system and maintaining the world's largest diverse democracy, are historically unprecedented.

Fareed Zakaria pointing out that India's young population coupled with the second-largest English-speaking population in the world could give India an advantage over China. He also believes that while other industrial countries will face a youth gap, India will have many young people, or in other words, workers, and by 2050, its per capita income will rise by twenty times its current level. According to Zakaria, another strength that India has is that its democratic government has lasted for 60 years, stating that a democracy can provide for long-term stability, which has given India a name.

Clyde V. Prestowitz Jr., founder and president of the Economic Strategy Institute and former counselor to the Secretary of Commerce in the Reagan administration, has predicted that "It is going to be India's century. India is going to be the biggest economy in the world. It is going to be the biggest superpower of the 21st century."

According to the report named "Indian Century: Defining India's Place in a Rapidly Changing Global Economy" by IBM Institute for Business Value, India is predicted to be among the world's highest-growth nations over the coming years.

Italy
The country has been referred to as a great power by a number of academics and commentators throughout the post cold war era. Some analysts assert that Italy is an "intermittent" or the "least of the great powers". The country is a prominent European continental power, having great influence in the European continent and still manages to exercise global influence. The tight relationships with the Pope, the pivotal role of NATO Quint  in the security of Western Bloc and being a member of G7 all make Italy a capable power.

Italy has as one of the most advanced economies in the world [the eighth-largest economy by nominal GDP (third in the European Union)], the sixth-largest national wealth and the third-largest central bank gold reserve. It ranks very high in life expectancy, quality of life, healthcare, and education. The country is considered a great power and it plays a prominent role in regional  and global  economic, military, cultural, and diplomatic affairs. Italy is a founding and leading member of the European Union and a member of numerous international institutions, including the United Nations, NATO, the OECD, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the World Trade Organization, the Group of Seven, the G20, the Union for the Mediterranean, the Latin Union, the Council of Europe, Uniting for Consensus, the Schengen Area, and many more. The source of many inventions and discoveries, the country has long been a global centre of art, music, literature, philosophy, science and technology, and fashion, and has greatly influenced and contributed to diverse fields including cinema, cuisine, sports, jurisprudence, banking, and business. As a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy has the world's largest number of World Heritage Sites (58), and is the fifth-most visited country.

Atlantis
Atlantis is seen by most Great powers before ww1 as a Weak Great Power at best and regional power at worst due to their lack of involvement in worldly affairs until after ww1

Trynsuyin
Trynsuyin Like Japan Had done a similar thing as japan and industrialized when the Great powers came knocking on their door as well as entered an industrial arms race with Houpo'e and Malhini

Houpo'e
Houpo'e a strong country with a high population meant any sort of War or influence difficult to exert and with Trynsuyin and Houpo'e industrializing to try and overtake the other meant as one rises so does the other to counter it.

Empire of Mu
The Empire of Mu became a world power after ww2 with the Absorption of its neighbors and its highly Defensible position makes it similar to China in that no other Great Power could touch Mu and its later development of Nuclear weapons cemented it status as a Great Power

Kandam
The Kandam, Owns half a continent