Superpower

A superpower is a country that is one of the most powerful countries in the world. It is more powerful than a great power and less powerful than a hyperpower. Right now, only the United States is a superpower. However, China may become a superpower in the future. Some say it is already one. Others say that it will not become a superpower.

In the years following World War II, the United States, United Kingdom and the Soviet Union were global superpowers. 

But the United Kingdom declined as a superpower after the 1950s. For most of the century, the United States and Soviet Union remained a superpower until it declined in the late 1980s. After the Soviet Union split into a lot of smaller countries in 1991, it was not a superpower anymore. Russia got most of the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons but not the status of a superpower. In order to be a superpower, a country must dominate economic, cultural, and military as well as diplomatic influence.

Related pages
 Great power
 Hyperpower

References

Category:International politics
Category:Country classifications