DANIEL'S WORLD ISSUES BLOG
WHICH COUNTRIES ARE EMERGING AS SUPERPOWERS?
A superpower nation is described by Merriam-Webster as "one of a very few dominant states in an era when the world is divided politically into these states and their satellites" and "an international governing body able to enforce its will upon the most powerful states". Currently, there are only 2 countries which are considered true superpowers by most academics. Those countries are the United States and China. However, there are 3 nations which are considered to be potential superpowers: Russia, India and Brazil.
WHICH INDICATORS REFLECT THESE CHANGES IN POWER RELATIONSHIPS?
In this I will go over each country and why they are considered emerging superpowers:
Brazil:
- Plentiful natural resources such as expensive minerals, fresh water, and the largest natural rain forest left in the world would put them in a good position in international relations, especially as environmental issues increase.
- Their lack of military spending and global security forces hold Brazil back from becoming a traditional superpower
India:
- Due to India's well functioning institutions of democracy and its relatively corruption-free society, it will emerge as a desirable, entrepreneurial and resource and energy-efficient superpower in the near future
- India has a highly successful professional class, however, millions of its citizens still live in poverty. There are also many more indicators such as malnutrition, poor literacy rates and poor immunization rates.
Russia:
- Many already consider Russia to be a superpower, but due to widespread corruption, poor trade relations, a GNP no larger than our own in Canada and no soft power such as Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Wall Street and no highly rated Universities
- On the other hand, since 2008 Russia has overhauled their military making it more modern and professional, also holding the most nuclear warheads in the world. Also, if the permafrost that covers 2/3s of the country were to melt, an immense storage of resources such as oil and precious minerals would be revealed.