Posted on Oct 16, 2015
Is China a superpower today? Other than the USA and USSR, have there been superpowers in the past?
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There is no doubt that the United States is considered a superpower today by most definitions. My working definition of a superpower is a nation with the ability to project power in order to achieve its goals and interests on a global scale.
With that or the many similar definitions in mind, the USSR during the cold war and the British Empire prior to World War Two were also clearly superpowers.
China today has an operational aircraft carrier, an active manned spaceflight program and a large, powerful and modern military capable of global deployment, which in my opinion qualifies them as a superpower as well. I would also argue that Japan up until the battle of Leyte Gulf also was a superpower, and that it lost that status with the loss of its ability to deploy naval forces reliably outside of Japanese waters.
I'd like to know others' opinions, particularly with regard to Imperial Japan, but other examples of superpowers as well.
With that or the many similar definitions in mind, the USSR during the cold war and the British Empire prior to World War Two were also clearly superpowers.
China today has an operational aircraft carrier, an active manned spaceflight program and a large, powerful and modern military capable of global deployment, which in my opinion qualifies them as a superpower as well. I would also argue that Japan up until the battle of Leyte Gulf also was a superpower, and that it lost that status with the loss of its ability to deploy naval forces reliably outside of Japanese waters.
I'd like to know others' opinions, particularly with regard to Imperial Japan, but other examples of superpowers as well.
Posted in these groups: 
Military History
Military History
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 5
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Yes LTC (Join to see) China is superpower if for no other reason than the sheer size of its military and the position it physically holds in the world among its neighbors.
China's exerted influence on the Spratly Islands, its proximity to southeast Asia, the Philippines, Japan and South Korea over the past decades have helped shape our policy.
China's exerted influence on the Spratly Islands, its proximity to southeast Asia, the Philippines, Japan and South Korea over the past decades have helped shape our policy.
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CSM William Payne
PVT James Strait - Afghanistan has nukes, as does Israel, India and North Korea. I don't think anyone would classify any of those countries as super powers. And while I would classify China and Russia as Super Powers, both of them have a long way to go to be on the same level as the United States. Our current ability for force projection is what sets us apart from any other country.
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CSM William Payne
CSM William Payne - Sorry I meant Pakistan, not Afghanistan has nukes. Pakistan has nukes to counter India's nukes.
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LTC Stephen F.
CSM William Payne - If the Taliban had nukes there would have been a mushroom cloud some time ago :-)
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As to Super powers in the past, I could suggest a few... Roman Empire, the Mongols, 18 th century Britain., perhaps even the Persians.
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LTC (Join to see) - Major; I don't think that the PRC qualifies under the traditional definition of "super power". The PRC may have a large military but it doesn't really have the ability to deploy a significant force globally (nor the ability to support it if it could deploy it).
Economically, the PRC is a "super power". Militarily it is a "regional power" and there is no historical precedent for believing that the PRC wants to be a global super power (except to the extent that that is required to ensure that other countries leave it alone.
Economically, the PRC is a "super power". Militarily it is a "regional power" and there is no historical precedent for believing that the PRC wants to be a global super power (except to the extent that that is required to ensure that other countries leave it alone.
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LTC (Join to see)
Sir,
I think your assessment is correct, but they are right on the cusp. Once their first domestic aircraft carrier becomes fully operational I think they will cross that line, if just barely.
I think your assessment is correct, but they are right on the cusp. Once their first domestic aircraft carrier becomes fully operational I think they will cross that line, if just barely.
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