In the literature of international relations, a term that appears frequently is ‘Great Powers’. A great power is not just any State in the international system precisely because it plays a major role in international politics with respect to security-related issues. Not only that, a great power can be differentiated from other States in the system on the basis of their military power, their interests, their behaviour in general, their interactions with other powers and other powers’ perception of them.

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Judging by these characteristics, one can safely say that the United States is definitely a great power and it has been for the last several decades. The erstwhile Soviet Union has been another great power in the modern history. Though, both the US and the USSR have been called ‘SuperPowers’ as well, a thing that is noteworthy is that ‘Great Powers’ and ‘Superpowers’ are not synonymous terms and, therefore, not interchangeable.

A superpower is a country whose potential is unmatched by any other power in the international system. Its military might is much bigger than all other major powers in the system. Therefore, a superpower is a great power too but vice-versa is not true. For instance, the US and the erstwhile Soviet Union were both superpowers as well as great powers but France which has been a great power can’t be called a superpower.

Similarly, Japan, has been a great economic power but not a great military power and hence can’t be called a superpower because a superpower’s might is unmatchable in every field, such as, military, economy, culture etc. Words like ‘Americanisation’, ‘McDonaldisation’ etc show the sheer attractive power of American lifestyle and culture which millions of people either emulated or wanted to emulate.

Sometimes, just being militarily stronger doesn’t help a nation to be attractive in the eyes of people living in other nations. For instance, China is India’s neighbour and is certainly a major power in the international system today, but does its culture, lifestyle, language emulated by Indians or South Asians as compared to American culture or even French?

The answer is no. Great powers are not a recent phenomenon. Human history is in itself a story of the rise and fall of great powers and great empires. Britain, France, Prussia, Austria-Hungry, Czarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire were all great powers. Their wars with each other shaped the international system greatly. This is because most of these European powers were ‘colonial powers’ as well. Britain was the biggest sea power of the 17th and 18th centuries and it is because of its mastery on the seas that the sun never set in the British Empire in that era.

Where does India feature in the list of great powers? India’s status as a nuclear power and the attractiveness of Indian culture have ensured that it be can be categorised as an ‘emerging power’.

The author is a junior research fellow at School of International Studies, JNU