A superpower is a nation with such overwhelming power, that it can impose it's will upon any part of the globe with the whole world as it's sphere of influence with a few rogue states labelled as pariah states by the international community for the crime of standing up to the reigning superpower. There have been many superpowers in the past, the Spanish Empire, The United Provinces of the Netherlands, Bourbon France, the mighty British Empire, USSR, the list can go on to include Rome, Mongol Empire, Ming China, etc. Ancient superpowers cannot be classified as superpowers per se, because although it's known world was it's dominion, it's power ended there. It did not have the capability to impose itself of a truly global scale until the modern era. The first superpower in it's true sense of the word was arguably the British Empire; it contested for control of all the seas and held a third of the land area under it's control, directly or otherwise and was the first empire upon which the sun truly and literally never set, while the same expression was used for the Spanish and French Empires merely as a exhortation.
However, there have been long periods in history where no single nation ruled supreme leading to a multipolar world. The inter-war period was one such political climate, where Britain, France, Germany, Russia, USA, Japan and Italy all had their own spheres of influence leading to devastating consequences. The Cold War world was bipolar with the NATO and Warsaw Pacts dominating diplomacy. Superpowers are formed under peculiar political circumstances where one nation held a distinct advantage. While all the history is fascinating in sorts, one must really wonder as to what makes a nation a superpower.
A superpower needs the following :
- An unchallengeable military superiority: The Spanish Armada, The Royal Navy and now, the US navy are all examples of this unparalleled military hegemony. In fact, the US navy today is larger than the the next 13 largest navies combined while the Royal navy in it's heyday packed more firepower than the next two largest navies combined. A navy is the most valuable asset of any superpower. While armies can impose upon the land, a navy is the only force that can control distant parts of the world and keep distant lands under check. This was one of the reasons Russia desperately wanted a warm water port and fought the west for two centuries for at least one such port. This was the same reason Britain and the United States resolutely never let Russia expand southwards. If a nation wishes to project it's power across the globe in a sustainable manner, it needs a large military force, especially a gigantic navy.
- A large treasury: After all, it is money that makes the world go round. A country that wishes to broaden its sphere of influence must have the financial resources to back the efforts. A large military needs a lot of money, a lot of money also brings financial leverage and economic clout over smaller nations. This was the precise reason the Spanish Empire imploded. Spain, a staunchly Catholic nation was adroitly against Shylocking, as it was derisively called, the practice of lending credit at an interest. Without easy credit, the economy got static with galleons full of gold and silver from the New World just sitting in Spain funding only costly wars and futile imperial ambitions. The Thirty Years' war was the spark that blew up the Empire's fortunes, with Bourbon France filling the void, albeit temporarily. It was another nation, surprisingly tiny, but ruthlessly mercantile, that eventually rose to the top: The Netherlands. Wherever there was money to be made, the Dutch were there. Their merchant fleet was the largest in the world, often called the Dutch golden age, with a vast military fleet to secure shipping routes. It became so prosperous that it shadowed much larger empires like Spain and France who made no guise of their antipathy towards this brutally money-minded tiny kingdom. Therefore, as history shows, money is the oil that keeps the wheels of nations moving, money is so important, that a tiny nation can weed it's way to the top with money alone, lots and lots of sweet money.
- A sizeable population: It is not easy to get to the top, it takes a lot of hard work. What is even more difficult is staying there. The Netherlands did rise to the top, but the Dutch were promptly supplanted by a larger version of their nation, a nation equally ruthless in it's economic pursuits, equally mercantile, but larger, Great Britain. What made this even more ironic was that the British were the only ally the Dutch had with an ounce of teeth against enemies like leviathan empires united by a common religion and disdain towards this tiny nation of the Dutch, France and Spain. British ascent was not peaceful, but riddled with constant resentment of Dutch wealth and vice versa. The reason the British came out the winner was because of their sheer size in comparison to the Netherlands. The same can be said for the demise of British hegemony in the world. By 1890, The United States had overtaken Britain as the largest economy in the world, while Germany became the powerhouse of Europe, robbing Britain of its title of "The Workshop of the World". The reason this was achieved was not because of any other factor but size. The German Empire was the most populous state in Europe, after Russia, obviously, and the USA was simply huge. Both these countries ceaselessly performed as factories flooding the world markets while Britain took the back seat in industrial capacity and switched to a service based economy, the world's first post-industrial nation. European hegemony was further strained by the World Wars, two devastating conflicts from which Europe never recovered. However, even if Europe had remained peaceful, it's supremacy was not sustainable, solely because of the reason that there were much larger nations in the world that had simply not realised their potential. It was only a matter of time before they did, which meant that any European nation that held the reigns merely had a fleeting advantage over other nations, something bound to disappear in time. At this point, one might argue that Britain and France had vast empires and thus could industrialise their colonies. However, it must be noted that, imperialism, as a concept is not sustainable. The very fact that the British educated the colonial subjects in the Western school of thought proved to be their undoing. To rule over a set of people, one needs one of these things: authoritarian control, or popular goodwill. The British colonial government had neither, the French were even worse. The very fact that British colonial governance was praised for it's liberalism ( it must be noted that this liberalism is relative to other European powers of the time and must not be compared to current standards of human rights.) proved to unleash nationalist aspirations among the populace because the British did not assimilate the natives into their culture as the French tried to do, believing in the policy of non-interference, especially after 1857. The French, on the other hand tried so hard to assimilate native cultures that the indigenous people resisted the invasion of their culture. Ultimately, both the empires could not sustain themselves. But it must be noted that, unlike other empires that came crashing down, these empires merely faded away, quite gradually. The reason for that was, thankfully, ultimate admission of the fact that these empires were not sustainable. Therefore, for any nation to be sustainable as a superpower, it must have a sufficiently large population that identifies itself as one nation.
- A vast area of fertile land: This one is obvious. Any nation needs a large land area to sustain a sizeable population. More specifically, it requires a large area of arable land with favourable climatic conditions. While agriculture can be the least profitable of all economic activities, it is still, by far the most important and this requires land, a lot of it. A large population needs large quantities of food. One can always import food grains, but to maintain a sustainable superpower status, one needs to produce as well as consume. To produce large amounts of food, one needs large areas of arable land. In fact, land is the only reason Russia became a great power in the first place. It has a moderately substantial population, but the reason for that is that it has unimaginable amounts of land. If one takes up nearly half of the largest continent in the world and more than half of another continent, there are bound to be some people in it. We call them Russians. Russia has vast tracts of extremely fertile land, rich natural resources and vast amounts of unpopulated land to spare. This was the reason that even though Russian industry in the 19th century was non-existent, Russia packed a considerable punch on the world stage, enough to alarm the then most industrialised and powerful nation in the world, Britain, to declare Russia as the nation most likely to challenge British supremacy, even though Russia hardly had a navy, spawning the Great Game of the 19th century. Industrialisation of Russia only rapidly catapulted it to the status of a superpower. Despite the demise of Feudalism, land still plays an important part in the prosperity of any nation. Lack of land is the reason Japan does not reign supreme despite an exceptionally industrious population, which while pushing Japan to the status of the second largest economy, a title it held for forty years, could not do much to further Japanese economic power than what it is today. Therefore, a superpower requires vast swathes of fertile land, a favourable climate and abundant natural resources.
- Popular mindset and ruthless expansionism: No empire can be built through peaceful means. Any change in established political order can only be achieved by forced upheaval of the existing order. As controversial as that sounds, it is sadly true. One cannot name a single superpower that emerged in history after long periods of peace. The Spanish Empire ruthlessly exterminated the native Indian populace, The Netherlands emerged after the Thirty years war and the Eighty years war. The British Empire emerged as a nascent colonial power after the Seven years war, it's hegemony sealed after the Napoleonic wars. Germany was born after the Franco-Prussian war. The United States emerged after the Second World War. Wars make and break nations. Wars are triggered by expansionism. Today, however, expansionism has evolved from the idea of political control to economic influence. Still, a nation has to ceaselessly try and expand it's economic horizons. If a nation wants to be superpower, it has to start behaving like one. Diplomacy is like a poker game, one loses the game if they play it badly even if one has an unbeatable hand. Any nation that has become superpower at some point started getting incorrigibly assertive. For example, even though Britain reigned supreme uncontested on all seas, the United States boldly declared in 1920 that it shall endeavour to build a navy second to none. The boldness of this averment was compounded by the fact that Britain was an ally of the USA, not an enemy. Thirty years later, a wish came true. The US navy surpassed the Royal Navy as the most powerful navy in the world. If the USA had decided that it mustn't expand it's navy at the cost of British goodwill, the scenario would've been extremely different. Apart from this assertive confidence, a nation requires a population that is productive and ingenious. The reason the industrial revolution first took place in Britain and no where else was because of a strong Protestant work ethic compounded by a benevolent social institution welcome to change. The reason Soviet Russia collapsed was because it's society was becoming stagnant after half a century of political repression, reflecting on economic stagnation. For any nation to be a superpower, it needs a dynamic populace welcome to change and an innovative workforce willing to try new things.
- Liberty and Democracy: Finally, any nation aspiring to be a superpower must have a liberal government institution in place. Tight repression and strict regulation stifles innovation, the heart of any superpower. To maintain the popular dynamic and ingenuity, one needs a liberal government granting certain fundamental rights to it's citizens, and independent and impartial judiciary and an firm and insurmountable democratic tradition. The reason Britain outgrew it's continental neighbours was because of it's benevolent rule. The reason Soviet Russia collapsed even after having all the ingredients for a superpower was because of an authoritarian regime that stifled it's populace. The reason the USA lived on and will do so for the foreseeable future is because of democracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment