Kekuatan menengah

Dalam hubungan internasional, penguasa menengah adalah negara berdaulat yang tidak tergolong penguasa super atau penguasa besar, tetapi memiliki pengaruh yang besar atau cukup dan mendapat pengakuan internasional. Konsep "penguasa menengah" dapat ditelusuri hingga asal mula sistem negara Eropa. Pada akhir abad ke-16, pemikir politik Italia Giovanni Botero membagi dunia ke dalam tiga jenis negara – grandissime (imperium), mezano (penguasa menengah), dan piccioli (penguasa kecil). Menurut Botero, mezano atau penguasa menengah "...memiliki kekuatan dan kewenangan yang cukup untuk berdiri sendiri tanpa bantuan negara lain."Rudd K (2006) Making Australia a force for good , Labor eHerald

 Tumpang tindih 
Tumpang tindih antara penguasa menengah dan penguasa besar menunjukkan bahwa tidak ada kesepakatan soal pengelompokkan ini.Mehmet Ozkan. "A NEW APPROACH TO GLOBAL SECURITY: PIVOTAL MIDDLE POWERS AND GLOBAL POLITICS" Perceptions: Journal of International Affairs XI.1 (2006): 77-95

Negara-negara seperti Tiongkok, Prancis, Rusia, Britania Raya, dan Amerika Serikat umumnya dianggap penguasa besar karena memiliki pengaruh ekonomi, militer, dan straegi, memegang status pemilik senjata nuklir resmi, dan menduduki jabatan permanen di Dewan Keamanan Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa.

Namun demikian, ada sumber-sumber yang menggolongkan Prancis, Rusia, dan Britania Raya sebagai penguasa menengah.
 ="Europeand Sussex, both the UK and France were great powers now reduced to middle power status.

 P. Shearman, M. Sussex, European Security After 9/11(Ashgate, 2004) - According to Shearman and Sussex, both the UK and France were great powers now reduced to middle power status.
Banyak akademisi juga meyakini bahwa Jepang dan Jerman adalah penguasa besar karena ekonominya maju dan memiliki pengaruh global, walaupun kemampuan militer dan strategisnya terbatas. Meski jarang ada akademisi yang mengakui India sebagai penguasa besar, ilmuwan politik seperti Malik Mohan dan Zbigniew Brzezinski menganggap India sebagai penguasa besar.Strategic Vision: America & the Crisis of Global Power by Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, pp 43–45. Published 2012. Jerman, Jepang, dan India juga terkadang dikelompokkan sebagai penguasa menengah.
 Heine J (2006) On the Manner of Practising the New Diplomacy, ISNGladys Lechini, Middle Powers: IBSA and the New South-South Cooperation. NACLA Report on the Americas, Vol. 40, No. 5 (2007): 28-33: 'Today, a new, more selective South-South cooperation has appeared, bringing some hope to the people of our regions. The trilateral alliance known as the India, Brazil, and South Africa Dialogue Forum, or IBSA, exemplifies the trend … The three member countries face the same problems and have similar interests. All three consider themselves "middle powers" and leaders of their respective regions, yet they have also been subject to pressures from the North.'Daniel Flemes, Emerging Middle Powers' Soft Balancing Strategy: State and Perspective of the IBSA Dialogue Forum. Hamburg: GIGA, 2007.
 Otte M, Greve J (2000) A Rising Middle Power?: German Foreign Policy in Transformation, 1989-1999, St. Martin's Press
 Robert W. Cox, 'Middlepowermanship, Japan, and Future World Order, International Journal, Vol. 44, No. 4 (1989), pp. 823-862.Soeya Yoshihide, 'Diplomacy for Japan as a Middle Power, Japan Echo, Vol. 35, No. 2 (2008), pp. 36-41.
 Charalampos Efstathopoulosa, 'Reinterpreting India's Rise through the Middle Power Prism', Asian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 19, Issue 1 (2011), p. 75: 'India's role in the contemporary world order can be optimally asserted by the middle power concept. The concept allows for distinguishing both strengths and weakness of India's globalist agency, shifting the analytical focus beyond material-statistical calculations to theorise behavioural, normative and ideational parameters.'Robert W. Bradnock, India's Foreign Policy since 1971 (The Royal Institute for International Affairs, London: Pinter Publishers, 1990), quoted in Leonard Stone, 'India and the Central Eurasian Space', Journal of Third World Studies, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2007, p. 183: 'The U.S. is a superpower whereas India is a middle power. A superpower could accommodate another superpower because the alternative would be equally devastating to both. But the relationship between a superpower and a middle power is of a different kind. The former does not need to accommodate the latter while the latter cannot allow itself to be a satellite of the former."Jan Cartwright, 'India's Regional and International Support for Democracy: Rhetoric or Reality?', Asian Survey, Vol. 49, No. 3 (May/June 2009), p. 424: 'India’s democratic rhetoric has also helped it further establish its claim as being a rising "middle power." (A "middle power" is a term that is used in the field of international relations to describe a state that is not a superpower but still wields substantial influence globally. In addition to India, other "middle powers" include, for example, Australia and Canada.)'
Sejumlah ilmuwan hubungan internasional mendukung klaim bahwa Italia dan Kanada berhak mendapatkan status penguasa besar karena terlibat dalam G7.Russia and the Great PowersThe Seven-Power Summit as an International Concert  Dalam laporan HCSS tahun 2014, Italia terdaftar sebagai penguasa besar.
 Behringer RM (2005) Middle Power Leadership on the Human Security Agenda , SAGECrosby AD (1997) A Middle-Power Military in Alliance: Canada and NORAD, JSTORPetersen K (2003) Quest to Reify Canada as a Middle Power, Dissident Voice
 "Operation Alba may be considered one of the most important instances in which Italy has acted as a regional power, taking the lead in executing a technically and politically coherent and determined strategy." See Federiga Bindi, Italy and the European Union (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2011), p. 171."Italy plays a prominent role in European and global military, cultural and diplomatic affairs. The country's European political, social and economic influence make it a major regional power." See Italy: Justice System and National Police Handbook, Vol. 1 (Washington, D.C.: International Business Publications, 2009), p. 9.

 Daftar penguasa menengah 
Layaknya penguasa besar, tidak ada kesepakatan mengenai pengelompokan penguasa menengah. Daftar manapun selalu diperdebatkan dan menjajarkan negara berukuran besar (e.g. Argentina) dengan negara berukuran kecil (e.g. Norwegia). Tidak semua penguasa menengah memiliki status yang sama; beberapa di antaranya dianggap sebagai penguasa regional dan anggota G20 (e.g. Australia), sedangkan negara lainnya dapat dengan mudah digolongkan sebagai penguasa kecil (e.g. Uni Emirat Arab). Sejumlah penguasa menengah yang lebih besar juga memainkan peran penting di Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa dan organisasi internasinoal lain seperti WTO.

Berikut adalah daftar negara yang pernah dianggap sebagai penguasa menengah oleh sejumlah akademisi atau ilmuwan politik.

 Bernard Wood, 'Towards North-South Middle Power Coalitions', in Middle Power Internationalism: The North-South Dimension, edited by Cranford Pratt (Montreal, McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990).Wurst J (2006) Middle Powers Initiative Briefing Paper , GSICooper AF (1997) Niche Diplomacy - Middle Powers after the Cold War , palgrave
 Tobias Harris, 'Japan Accepts its "Middle-Power" Fate'. Far Eastern Economic Review Vol. 171, No. 6 (2008), p. 45: 'Japan is settling into a position as a middle power in Asia, sitting uneasily between the U.S., its security ally, and China, its most important economic partner. In this it finds itself in a situation similar to Australia, India, South Korea and the members of Asean.'Yasmi Adriansyah, 'Questioning Indonesia's place in the world', Asia Times (20 September 2011): 'Countries often categorized as middle power (MP) include Australia, Canada and Japan. The reasons for this categorization are the nations' advanced political-economic stature as well as their significant contribution to international cooperation and development. India and Brazil have recently become considered middle powers because of their rise in the global arena—particularly with the emerging notion of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China).'Hazleton WA (2005) Middle Power Bandwagoning? Australia's Security Relationship with the United States , allacademic

 Inoguchi K (2002) The UN Disarmament Conference in Kyote Caplan G (2006) From Rwanda to Darfur: Lessons learned? , SudanTribune

 http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/story.html?id=f16af620-5ede-4f3b-b4cb-ef663c856953&k=15650



 Pratt C (1990) Middle Power Internationalism, MQUP
 Ploughshares Monitor (1997) Scrapping the Bomb: The role of middle power countries 

 Thanos Veremēs (1997)The Military in greek Politics "Black Rose Books"
 Higgott RA, Cooper AF (1990) Middle Power Leadership and Coalition Building
 Solomon S (1997) South African Foreign Policy and Middle Power Leadership , ISSJonathan H. Ping, Middle Power Statecraft: Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Asia Pacific (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2005).

 Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Raymond Hinnesbusch, Syria and Iran: Middle Power in a Penetrated Regional System (London: Routledge, 1997).Ahouie M (2004) Iran Analysis Quarterly , MITForeign Affairs Committee (2006) Iran

 Middle Power Internationalism: The North-South Dimension, edited by Cranford Pratt (Montreal, McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990).
 Mace G, Belanger L (1999) The Americas in Transition: The Contours of Regionalism (p 153)Kim R. Nossal and Richard Stubbs, 'Mahathir's Malaysia: An Emerging Middle Power?' in Niche Diplomacy: Middle Powers After the Cold War, edited by Andrew F. Cooper (London: Macmillan, 1997).
 Louis Belanger and Gordon Mace, 'Middle Powers and Regionalism in the Americas: The Cases of Argentina and Mexico', in Niche Diplomacy: Middle Powers After the Cold War, edited by Andrew F. Cooper (London: Macmillan, 1997).Pierre G. Goad, 'Middle Powers to the Rescue?', Far Eastern Economic Review, Vol. 163, No. 24 (2000), p. 69.Pellicer O (2006) Mexico – a Reluctant Middle Power? , FES






 Jonathan H. Ping Middle Power Statecraft (p 104)
 Kirton J (2006) Harper’s Foreign Policy Success?
 according to Yves Lacoste, Géopolitique, Larousse, 2009,p. 134, both Spain and Portugal exert a real influence in Africa and in the Americas.


 findarticles.comyaleglobal.yale.edu
 Peter Vale, 'South Africa: Understanding the Upstairs and the Downstairs', in Niche Diplomacy: Middle Powers After the Cold War, edited by Andrew F. Cooper (London: Macmillan, 1997).Janis Van Der Westhuizen, 'South Africa's Emergence as a Middle Power', Third World Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 3 (1998), pp. 435-455.Pfister R (2006) The Apartheid Republuc and African States, H-NetEduard Jordaan, 'Barking at the Big Dogs: South Africa's Foreign Policy Towards the Middle East', Round Table, Vol. 97, No. 397 (2008), pp. 547-549.Flemes, Daniel, Emerging Middle Powers' Soft Balancing Strategy: State and Perspectives of the IBSA Dialogue Forum (August 1, 2007). GIGA Working Paper No. 57. 
 Armstrong DF (1997) South Korea's foreign policy in the post-Cold War era: A middle power perspective Gilbert Rozman, 'South Korea and Sino-Japanese Rivalry: A Middle Power's Options Within the East Asia Core Triangle', Pacific Review, Vol. 20, No. 2 (2007), pp. 197-220.Woosang Kim, 'Korea as a Middle Power in Northeast Asian Security, in The United States and Northeast Asia: Debates, Issues, and New Order'', edited by G. John Ikenbgerry and Chung-in Moon (Lantham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008).

 Rudengren J, Gisle P, Brann K (1995) Middle Power Clout: Sweden And The Development Banks 



 Andrew F. Cooper, Agata Antkiewicz and Timothy M. Shaw, 'Lessons from/for BRICSAM about South-North Relations at the Start of the 21st Century: Economic Size Trumps All Else?', International Studies Review, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Winter, 2007), pp. 675, 687.Meltem Myftyler and Myberra Yyksel, 'Turkey: A Middle Power in the New Order', in Niche Diplomacy: Middle Powers After the Cold War, edited by Andrew F. Cooper (London: Macmillan, 1997).





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 Referensi 

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 Middle Powers Initiative

 Bacaan lanjutan 
 Weak States in the International System (By Michael I. Handel)
 Relocating Middle Powers: Australia and Canada in a Changing World Order (Book info)
 Middle Power Internationalism (Book info)
 Emerging Powers: Governance in a Changing Global Order  (A Queen’s Centre for International Relations annual report)

Kategori:Negara menurut status kekuasaan