Hyperpower

Countries with military bases and facilities of the United States

The term hyperpower has been used by political scientists and historians to describe an uncontested superpower, although the use of the concept is inconsistent. French foreign minister Hubert Védrine coined the term in 1999 to describe what he saw as the historically-unparalleled influence and might that were held by the United States at the turn of the century.^[1]

The United States became the world's hyperpower at the end of the Second World War, as the Soviet Union was a power of comparable influence, but lagged far behind the United States in economy and wealth. The United States remained the world's hyperpower until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, at which point it became the world's sole superpower. Opinions differ on when China's rise changed the United States' position from an uncontested sole superpower to a contested one. However, most agree that this happened sometime in the late 2000s or early 2010s post-Great Recession.

Currently, the United States is no longer an uncontested superpower, partly due to not dominating in every single domain (i.e. military, culture, economy, technology, diplomatic) in every part of the world. Although it is still the most powerful military and has the largest economy by nominal GDP (although China has surpassed the United States in GDP purchasing power parity, and could surpass the United States nominal GDP in the coming decades^[2][3][4]), China has made significant gains in cultural influence and technology.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]}

According to the Asia Power Index 2025, both the United States and China are classified as superpowers and the U.S. takes the lead on the military capacity, cultural influence, resilience, defense networks, economic resources, and future resources but lags behind China in the two parameters of economic relationships and diplomatic influence across eight measures in Asia.^[12]

History

French foreign minister Hubert Védrine coined the term "hyperpower" in 1999.

There is a general lack of consensus between the various authors and scholars in reference to the nations and empires that allegedly had hyperpower status or were the world's most powerful at various points in history;^[13][14] the label of hyperpower has been occasionally given to multiple powers of the past such as the Roman Empire, the Papacy, the Portuguese Empire, the Spanish Empire, the Habsburg empire, the Ottoman empire, Mughal India, Safavid Iran, the Ming dynasty the Dutch colonial empire, the British Empire, and several others.^{[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]}

During the Cold War, the term superpower has been applied to both the United States and the Soviet Union and (earlier) the British Empire. More recently, superpower status has been commonly attributed to the United States and China.^[24] This concept is more common than that of hyperpower largely because it is not possible to identify a single hegemonic force in global affairs.

See also

• Superpower
• Great power
• Regional power
• Middle power
• Small power
• Microstate

References

1. "To Paris, U.S. Looks Like a 'Hyperpower'". The New York Times. 5 February 1999. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
2. "China GDP to top US, but not until around 2035, Goldman Sachs economists say". South China Morning Post. 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
3. Xie, Stella Yifan (2 September 2022). "China's Economy Won't Overtake the U.S., Some Now Predict". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
4. Saul, Derek. "China And India Will Overtake U.S. Economically By 2075, Goldman Sachs Economists Say". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
5. "Asia Power Index | US". power.lowyinstitute.org. Retrieved 2020-10-20. The United States remains the most powerful country in the region but registered the largest fall in relative power of any Indo–Pacific country in 2020. A ten-point overall lead over China two years ago has been narrowed by half in 2020.
6. "Patrick Cockburn: The US has faced decline before – but nothing like what's to come". The Independent. 2020-03-27. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
7. "From Hyperpower to Declining Power". Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. 2011-09-07. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
8. Walt, Stephen M. "How to Ruin a Superpower". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
9. Hiro, Dilip (2016-10-11). "Think the US Is the Foremost Global Superpower? Think Again". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
10. "America's innovation edge now in peril, says Baker Institute, American Academy of Arts and Sciences report". news.rice.edu. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
11. "China will overtake US in tech race". OMFIF. 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
12. https://power.lowyinstitute.org/compare/?countries=united-states,china
13. A Political History of the World^{[permanent dead link]}
14. Münkler, Herfried (11 June 2007). Empires: The Logic of World Domination from Ancient Rome to the United States. Polity. ISBN 9780745638713.
15. "Porque Roma se chama Caput Mundi". Retrieved 2023-08-03.
16. Swart, Koenraad Wolter (1969). The miracle of the Dutch Republic as seen in the seventeenth century. London: H. K. Lewis & Co. Ltd. Archived from the original on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
17. The British Empire has been described as having hyperpower status, driven by its vast colonial empire and industrial prowess. Its naval supremacy, exemplified by the Royal Navy, ensured control over crucial trade routes and maritime dominance.
18. "British Empire | History, Countries, Map, Size, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2024-06-27. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
19. "The British Empire". West Indian History, Heritage and Culture. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
20. "Roman Empire | Definition, History, Time Period, Map, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2023-06-19. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
21. Skinner, Quentin; Gelderen, Martin van (2013-03-07). Freedom and the Construction of Europe: Volume 1, Religious Freedom and Civil Liberty. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-31140-4.
22. Encyclopedia of World History, Ackerman-Schroeder-Terry-Hwa Lo, 2008: Encyclopedia of World History. Fact on File Publishing. 2008-07-08.
23. Beller, Steven, ed. (2018), "Introduction: Austria and Modernity", The Habsburg Monarchy 1815–1918, New Approaches to European History, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–24, doi:10.1017/9781316135679.002, ISBN 978-1-107-09189-4, retrieved 2024-07-05
24. https://power.lowyinstitute.org/