Hyperpower

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A hyperpower is a state that is militarily, economically and technologically dominant on the world stage. In a modern context, it is used to describe the United States.^[1][2][3][4] Previous examples of hyperpowers include the British Empire,^[5][6][7], the Mongol Empire,^[8] and the Roman Empire.^{[9][10][11] [12]} In academic international relations literature, the term hegemony is much more common.

Origin

After the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, some political commentators felt that a new term was needed to describe the United States' position as the lone superpower. Ben Wattenberg coined the term "omnipower" in 1990 and Peregrine Worsthorne used the term "hyper-power" on June 8, 1991. French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine popularized the term "hyperpower" in his various criticisms of the United States beginning in 1998.^[13]

Popular culture

• Nine Inch Nails named the first track of their politically inspired album Year Zero "Hyperpower". The concept album is set in a near-future dystopian United States.

See also

• American Empire
• Americanization
• British Empire
• Chinese Empire
• French Empire
• Hegemony
• Pax Americana
• Pax Britannica
• Pax Hispanica
• Pax Ottomana
• Pax Romana
• Pax Sinica
• Portuguese Empire
• Spanish Empire
• Superpower
• Westernization

References

Sources

• "To Paris, U.S. Looks Like a 'Hyperpower'". The International Herald Tribune. February 5, 1999. http://www.iht.com/articles/1999/02/05/france.t_0.php. Retrieved August 20, 2006. 
• "Lonely Superpower or Unapologetic Hyperpower? Analyzing American Power in the Post-Cold War Era". Paper for presentation at the biennial meetings of the South African Political Studies Association Saldanha, Western Cape. 29 June-2 July 1999. http://post.queensu.ca/~nossalk/papers/hyperpower.htm. Retrieved February 28, 2007. 
• Ferguson, Niall (September/October 2003). "Hegemony or Empire?". Council on Foreign Relations, Inc.. http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20030901fareviewessay82512/niall-ferguson/hegemony-or-empire.html. Retrieved 2006-09-15. 
• Last, Jonathan (October 21, 2005). "Rule America?". The Weekly Standard (News America Incorporated). http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=6200. Retrieved 2006-09-15. 
• Védrine, Hubert. France in an Age of Globalization, Brookings Institution Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8157-0007-5
• "Word Spy - hyper-power". http://www.wordspy.com/words/hyper-power.asp. Retrieved 2006-09-15. 
• Li, Bo; Zheng Yin (Chinese) (2001) 5000 years of Chinese history, Inner Mongolian People's publishing corp , ISBN 7-204-04420-7