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The Great Powers are usually taken to be those nations or states that, through their great economic, political and military strength, are able to exert power over world diplomacy. Their opinions must be taken into account by other nations before taking diplomatic or military action. Characteristically, they have the ability to intervene militarily almost anywhere, and they also have soft, cultural power, often in the form of economic investment in less developed portions of the world.

Commentators give varying opinions on exactly which nations constitute a great power. Some include China, India, and maybe the EU Template:Inote however there is also an alternative view that the rising interdependency between the world's nations has made the concept of a superpower obsolete and that the world is now multipolar. There is considerable debate over the EU's power and influence. If the member states were combined it would presumably be a superpower. However, most commentators agree that the EU, lacking the political unification of a sovereign state, cannot therefore be a superpower or power of any kind. The UN Security Council nations (excluding the USA), namely the UK, France, China and Russia, are normally considered Great Powers, but disagreement exists, especially on the status of Russia.

The United States of America is not considered a great power, but a superpower.

Criteria

Though criteria can vary, the following criteria are usually included :

• The capacity to contribute to the international order
• Internal cohesion to allow for effective state action
• Economic power, such as high levels of economic growth or a large market
• Military power, with the ability to compete with other dominant powers in a conventional war

History

Different sets of Great Powers have existed in history, but after 1815, the Concert of Europe formalized France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Austria, and Prussia as the five powers. Of these, the first three had colonial empires outside Europe. Austria was called an empire in a former sense, that of a monarch ruling over kings. Prussia was a newcomer, rising through Frederick the Great's militaristic grand strategy. After the First World War, at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919 four Great Powers were readily recognised: the British Empire (including its Dominions), the United States, France and Italy. The status of Japan requires qualification. They were not part of the Big Four, but were accorded two votes like the Big Four. Their position was highlighted by their race equality proposal, which touched on a number of issues including their status as a Great Power. Although this proposal was defeated as first the British and then the Americans caved into the Australian defence of the White Australia Policy, their successful retention of Shandong and the German islands in the Pacific north of the equator indicated that they had attained the position of a non-white Great Power. Again, after the Second World War in 1945, the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France and the Republic of China were formalised as the five powers with permanent seats and veto power in the UN Security Council. Clearly, shifts in great power status tend to follow wars.

Great powers are also often associated with the projection of military power through a particular technology, such as Dreadnoughts or nuclear weapons. A mere large, defensive infantry army, such as the Chinese would have been able to raise during the age of European dominance is not able to project power overseas. Even the U.S. Army and its blockading navy during the Civil War was insufficient at a time when the United States did not have armored ocean-going battleships. Wealth could be a military factor. Britain could not raise a large army quickly, but was able to fund allies to raise them for it during the Napoleonic Wars.

The Congress of Berlin, a peace treaty to a comparatively minor war, included Turkey and Italy at the status of those mentioned in the Concert of Europe. International meetings, which developed during the second half of the nineteenth century, also serve to indicate Great Power status in the absence of peace treaties after wars, such as the different Berlin Conference.

By the end of the Cold War and the era of globalization other nations began to attain international recognition as great powers, India is an example of this after its economic boom in the 90s.

Since the end of the World Wars, the term Great Power has been split up into a number of definite categories. The term Superpower was used to define a nation with overwhelming power over the rest of the world, this term was initially used to describe the United States and Soviet Union. The term Major power (or sometimes Global Power) has also been used to describe nations with great power, yet not as overwhelming as that of a superpower. This system forms a type of hierarchy for powerful nations.

Great powers through modern history

Since around the year 1750 the world has become more globalized and most Great powers have had a certain amount of influence over the rest of the world. Prior to the 21st century this power was mostly exerted by colonial powers, or powers that had explored and established states in other continents. However, since the World Wars the geopolitical landscape has greatly changed. The emergence of new technologies also mean that soft power can be exerted over other regions easily.

After World War II, a number of changes in power were seen. The powers of Germany, Italy and Japan was greatly reduced and most of Europe was affected adversely by the war. In the aftermath of the war, Great powers has often been used to refer to nations who have strong power projection yet are not as strong as a superpower (a term used to describe the United States).

It is now generally accepted that the term Great power also applies to the United Kingdom, Germany, France, China, Japan, and Russia. The European powers of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy lost much of their political influence after the World Wars. However, all four of these nations managed to rebuild their economy and increase their power projection. There is debate on whether Italy should be included as a Great power as it meets some of the common characteristics of the other powers.

Japan also comes into the same category as Italy and Germany, after being devastated because of the Second World War, Japan steadily rebuilt its economy and managed to reach the status of a Great power. Japan also has built a strong high-tech manufacturing industry. The other Asian powers, China and India, are emerging superpowers and have developed a quickly growing economy.

Russia is considered by some as a declining power and by others as a rising one. It was the most prominent of the 15 Soviet Republics, and is the legal successor state to the Soviet Union, inheriting many of its superpower capabilities. Although Russia initially reliquished some of its power as the nation fell into disarray following the USSR's dissolution, it has since undergone significant recovery and has considerable influence over the world today through its military, geographical position, demographics, resources and economy.

Great powers in the pre-modern age (pre-1500 CE)

East Asia

Europe

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South Asia

Southeast Asia

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References

1. An explanation of the concept of Great powers
2. Hegemony, liberalism and global order: what space for would-be great powers? Hurrell, Andrew; 2006; International Affairs 82 (1); pp1-19; Accessed May 22 2006 (Subscription or one off payment of 19p required)

See also

• International relations