6GEO3 Unit 3 Contested Planet Topic 4: Superpower Geographies

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6GEO3 Unit 3 Contested PlanetTopic 4 Superpower
Geographies
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What is this topic about?

• The superpowers, and emerging powers, are the
  most powerful and wealthy nations
• They have both economic and political power,
  often globally
• Power and wealth shift over time and this topic
  explores these changes
• Changing patterns of power have global
  implications, which need to be explored and
  understood.

The New York Stock Exchange, a global power centre
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CONTENTS

• 1. Who are the superpowers?
• 2. The role of Superpowers
• 3. Superpower futures

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1. Who are the superpowers?

• Superpowers are countries, or grouping of
  countries, with global influence and power
• They have economic, cultural, military and
  geo-political influence
• Economic wealth (see graph) is only one aspect of
  superpower status
• One way to group the world's most powerful is

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The geography of power

• In terms of superpower status, size is not
  everything
• Some demographic superpowers have relatively
  little economic power
• Military spending (see table) is one form of
  power, as it allows superpowers such as the USA
  to have global military reach
• The USA is a highly influential power in
  economic, military, geopolitical and cultural
  terms
• Only the EU comes close to the influence of the
  USA, but the EU is a federation of 27 nation
  states who do not always agree

Use a data website such as www.wri.org to
experiment with ranking power and status using
different data types
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Changing patterns of power

• Superpowers shift over time the Uni-polar world
  of the British Empire gave way to the Bi-polar
  cold war world
• In 1990, as the USSR collapsed, a new USA
  dominated Uni-polar world was ushered in the EU
  has grown to be increasingly powerful also
• Many people think the future will be a more
  complex, fragmented and regional multi-polar
  world
• It is important to recognise that power can
  decline as well as grow

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The BRICs and emerging powers

• The BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are
  the emerging super powers
• Mexico and the Gulf States could lay claim to be
  in this group also
• This group of countries is very different, with
  perhaps only China capable of challenging the USA
  in the near future.

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Superpower theory

• There are several theories which help explain the
  rise and pattern of superpowers
• WW Rostows Take Off model (modernisation
  theory) is often used to illustrate how countries
  move from relative underdevelopment, to a state
  of high mass consumption
• Not all countries have managed to industrialise
  and develop
• AG Franks Dependency Theory argues that this is
  because the developed countries (superpowers and
  emerging powers) maintain the developing world in
  a state of underdevelopment, draining it of
• Human capital (brain drain)
• Resources (minerals, ores, food)
• This helps maintain the developed worlds
  lifestyle, cheaply

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• The BRICs, and NICs, have developed in recent
  decades
• This suggests some countries have broken free
  from dependency and developed in the way Rostows
  model suggests
• Immanuel Wallersteins World Systems Theory seeks
  to model this three sided world
• Wallersteins ideas are partly related to the
  economic theory of Supercycles (Kondratiev waves
  see table)
• These suggest economic growth passes through
  phases based on key new technologies
• These new technologies bring growth to particular
  geographical regions

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2. The role of Superpowers

• In the past, superpowers such as the British
  Empire and other Imperial powers maintained
  direct control over territories
• This era of colonialism ended in the period
  1945-1980 when colonies gained independence
• A characteristic of a superpower is the ability
  to take control, through war, of troublesome
  regions believed to threaten superpower security
• Whilst rare, superpowers still take direct
  military control over territory

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Neo-colonialism?

• Left-wing geographers argue that superpowers use
  subtle, indirect ways to maintain power today
• These ways are often termed neo-colonialism
• Aid is often given to allies and friends rather
  than the most needy countries (see table), and
  much aid is tied in various ways.
• Debt repayments channel money from the
  developing to the developed world
• Even debt relief schemes, such as the HIPC scheme
  (see map) have been criticised
• For HIPC countries to qualify for debt relief,
  they must follow the economic policies of bankers
  in the developed world

Note the total lack of overlap between the most
indebted nations and the top 10 receivers of US
aid.
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International Trade

• The world trade system is essential a western
  free trade one
• The USA and EU have been very influential at the
  World Trade Organisation in the past
• The Worlds three major stock markets (London,
  New York and Tokyo) are all in the west
• In a globalised world, TNCs play a crucial role
  in world trade, and most TNCs originate in the EU
  and USA
• Emerging superpowers, especially China, have
  taken advantage of global trade to develop and
  grow

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International decision making

• Global decision making revolves around
  inter-governmental organisation (IGOs)
• Some IGOs involve all nations, such as the U.N.
  others are more exclusive such as the G8, or
  regional such as NATO.
• Membership and voting rights may give key players
  disproportionate power.
• Some influential organisations such as the World
  Economic Forum (Davos Group) are not-for-profit
  organisations outside government control.
• IGOs do change over time the G20 has become more
  influential in recent years, reflecting the
  increasing power of the BRICs

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Cultural influence

• Superpowers exert a cultural influence the
  widespread use of English, tea drinking and
  cricket are a cultural legacy of the British
  Empire
• Today, the most influential culture is that of
  the USA
• Americanisation suggests that this culture is
  spreading. This spread is made easier by
• Global brands and logos
• The Global media e.g. Disney and CNN
• Globalised transport and communications
  connections
• American based TNCs
• Widespread use of English

Fast food, Coca-cola, rock music on the juke box
in this American dream diner
Is Mcdonaldisation or Cocacolonisation a
positive or negative development? The issue
tends to be divisive some anti-globalisation
campaigners accuse the USA of cultural
imperialism, and blame US consumer culture for
the erosion of local cultural traditions. On the
other hand, many Chinese see Americanisation as
positive, as it shows progress and development.
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3. Superpower futures

• As the primary emerging superpower, China has
  much to gain from its growing global status
• Poverty reduction in China (see graph) has been
  staggering
• China has become motorised, with over 170 million
  vehicles at the end of 2008 some estimates
  suggest there were only 3000 cars in Beijing in
  1978
• Inequality in China is a growing issue, although
  in general the population is much better off
• In Brazil and India there is a growing middle
  class of consumers
• In India by 2009 there were 500 million mobile
  phones in use and over 700 million in China

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Superpower resources

• Growth, wealth and the status that accompanies it
  brings new problems to the emerging powers.
• Chief among these is pollution as resources
  consumption and eco-footprints grow, so does
  pollution .

Almost 70 of Chinas energy comes from coal Acid
rain is a serious problem, as is water pollution
and urban air pollution in 2004 25,000km of
Chinese rivers failed water quality standards

• What if eco-footprints in the BRICs (see graph)
  begin to approach those of the developed world?

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Declining superpowers?

• The emergence of the BRICs does challenge the
  hegemony of the USA
• The USA is not about to enter precipitous
  decline, but its influence may lessen
• There is evidence that the BRICs are catching up,
  as the number of largest TNCs based in the USA
  falls, but rises in the BRICs (see graph)
• There is also some unease among the BRICs that
  IGOs such as the G8 and UN Security Council are
  dominated by the USA and EU

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Global Shifts in the Car industry

• In 2002, car sales in China were just over 3
  million
• By 2009 sales had exploded to 11 million, beating
  the 10 million sold in the USA
• The potential for growth in car sales in China is
  vast
• Two of the Detroit Three (Chrysler and GM) went
  bankrupt in 2009, shedding jobs and factories
• USA car companies have only survived because of
  Government bail-outs and selling or scrapping
  their loss making brands.
• Several brands have been sold to Indian and
  Chinese companies

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Development or dependency?

• Does the rise of the BRICs represent an
  opportunity for the least developed countries to
  develop new relationships with wealthy countries?
• Chinas interest in the developing world,
  especially Africa, has grown in the last 10 years
• China has invested in infrastructure such as road
  and rail, which Africa desperately needs.
• In some ways any investment is good investment
• Critics argue that Africa is still exporting its
  raw materials cheaply, and that the investment
  brings few jobs Chinese workers are often used
  instead of local labour.

• Chinas trade with Africa increased 10-fold
  between 1999 and 2009, to 110 billion
• Most trade is with oil exporters Sudan, Congo,
  Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Angola
• China approved 10 billion in loans to African
  nations in 2009
• China has invested in Zambian copper mines, iron
  ore mines in Gabon
• China has gifted 150 to build a new African
  Union headquarters in Addis Adaba

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Superpower Conflict

• Would a multi-polar global future increase
  tension and conflict?
• Sources of tension might be considered in terms
  of three global agendas