# Hyperpower > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hyperpower > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hyperpower.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperpower > Source revision: 1356263237 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Term used by political scientists and historians}} thumb|upright=1.3|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](/source/superpower), although the use of the concept is inconsistent. French foreign minister [Hubert Védrine](/source/Hubert_V%C3%A9drine) coined the term in 1999 to describe what he saw as the historically-unparalleled influence and might held by the [United States](/source/United_States) at the turn of the century.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/05/news/05iht-france.t_0.html|title=To Paris, U.S. Looks Like a 'Hyperpower'|date=5 February 1999|work=The New York Times|access-date=3 March 2010}} The United States became the world's hyperpower at the end of the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War), as the [Soviet Union](/source/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](/source/dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union) in 1991, at which point it became the world's sole superpower. Opinions differ on when [China's rise](/source/Chinese_Century) 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{{Cite web |date=2022-12-09 |title=China GDP to top US, but not until around 2035, Goldman Sachs economists say |url=https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3202752/china-gdp-surpass-us-around-2035-years-later-previously-expected-goldman-sachs-predicts |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Xie |first=Stella Yifan |title=China's Economy Won't Overtake the U.S., Some Now Predict |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/will-chinas-economy-surpass-the-u-s-s-some-now-doubt-it-11662123945 |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=WSJ |date=2 September 2022 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Saul |first=Derek |title=China And India Will Overtake U.S. Economically By 2075, Goldman Sachs Economists Say |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/12/06/china-and-india-will-overtake-us-economically-by-2075-goldman-sachs-economists-say/ |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Forbes |language=en}}), [China](/source/China) has made significant gains in cultural influence and [technology](/source/Science_and_technology_in_China).{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Asia Power Index {{!}} US|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/united-states/|access-date=2020-10-20|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en|quote="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."}}{{Cite web|date=2020-03-27|title=Patrick Cockburn: The US has faced decline before – but nothing like what's to come|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/us-trump-world-decline-coronavirus-brazil-bolsonaro-a9430566.html|access-date=2020-10-22|website=The Independent|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2011-09-07|title=From Hyperpower to Declining Power|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2011/09/07/from-hyperpower-to-declining-power/|access-date=2020-10-22|website=Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Walt|first=Stephen M.|title=How to Ruin a Superpower|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/23/how-to-ruin-a-superpower/|access-date=2020-10-22|website=Foreign Policy|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|last=Hiro|first=Dilip|date=2016-10-11|title=Think the US Is the Foremost Global Superpower? Think Again|journal=The Nation|language=en-US|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/think-the-us-is-the-foremost-global-superpower-think-again/|access-date=2020-10-22|issn=0027-8378}}{{Cite web|title=America's innovation edge now in peril, says Baker Institute, American Academy of Arts and Sciences report|url=https://news.rice.edu/2020/09/30/americas-innovation-edge-now-in-peril-says-baker-institute-american-academy-of-arts-and-sciences-report/|access-date=2020-10-23|website=news.rice.edu|archive-date=2020-10-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028185149/http://news.rice.edu/2020/09/30/americas-innovation-edge-now-in-peril-says-baker-institute-american-academy-of-arts-and-sciences-report/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|date=2019-10-22|title=China will overtake US in tech race|url=https://www.omfif.org/2019/10/china-will-overtake-us-in-tech-race/|access-date=2020-10-23|website=OMFIF|language=en-GB}} The [Asia Power Index](/source/Asia_Power_Index) 2025 classifies both the United States and China as superpowers, with the U.S. taking the lead in military capacity, cultural influence, resilience, defense networks, economic resources, and future resources, but lagging behind China in economic relationships and diplomatic influence across eight measures in Asia.{{Cite web|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/compare/?countries=united-states,china|title=Country Comparisons - Lowy Institute Asia Power Index|first=Lowy|last=Institute|website=Lowy Institute Asia Power Index 2025}} ==History== [[File:Hubert Vedrine 2006 01 06.jpg|thumb|French foreign minister [Hubert Védrine](/source/Hubert_V%C3%A9drine) coined the term "hyperpower" in 1999.]] There is a general lack of [consensus](/source/Scientific_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;[https://bookscentury.google.it/books?id=6IZbDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Political+history+of+the+world&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiM-5WJm4zlAhWB-qQKHQXqCSMQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=Political%20history%20of%20the%20world&f=false A Political History of the World]{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zQWl1eG9DEoC&q=list+of+empires+described+as+the+most+powerful+in+the+world|title=Empires: The Logic of World Domination from Ancient Rome to the United States|last=Münkler|first=Herfried|date=11 June 2007|publisher=Polity|isbn=9780745638713|language=en}} the label of hyperpower has been occasionally given to multiple powers of the past such as the [Roman Empire](/source/Roman_Empire), the [Papacy](/source/Papacy), the [Portuguese Empire](/source/Portuguese_Empire), the [Spanish Empire](/source/Spanish_Empire), the [Habsburg empire](/source/Habsburg_empire), the [Ottoman empire](/source/Ottoman_empire), [Mughal India](/source/Mughal_India), [Safavid Iran](/source/Safavid_Iran), the [Ming dynasty](/source/Ming_dynasty) the [Dutch colonial empire](/source/Dutch_colonial_empire), the [British Empire](/source/British_Empire), and several others.{{Cite web |title=Porque Roma se chama Caput Mundi |url=https://www.rerumromanarum.com/2021/02/porque-roma-se-chama-caput-mundi.html |access-date=2023-08-03}}{{cite book|url=http://www.dianamuirappelbaum.com/?p=583|title=The miracle of the Dutch Republic as seen in the seventeenth century|last=Swart|first=Koenraad Wolter|date=1969|publisher=[H. K. Lewis & Co. Ltd.](/source/H._K._Lewis_%26_Co._Ltd.)|location=London|archive-date=2015-03-19|access-date=2019-11-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319225519/http://www.dianamuirappelbaum.com/?p=583|url-status=dead}}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](/source/Royal_Navy), ensured control over crucial trade routes and maritime dominance.{{Cite web |date=2024-06-27 |title=British Empire {{!}} History, Countries, Map, Size, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/British-Empire |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=The British Empire |url=https://westindiacommittee.org/historyheritageculture/topics/caribbeansgreatwar/the-british-empire/ |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=West Indian History, Heritage and Culture |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |date=2023-06-19 |title=Roman Empire {{!}} Definition, History, Time Period, Map, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Roman-Empire |access-date=2023-08-03 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4kgAwAAQBAJ&q=giovanni+botero+papacy&pg=PA46|title=Freedom and the Construction of Europe: Volume 1, Religious Freedom and Civil Liberty|last1=Skinner|first1=Quentin|last2=Gelderen|first2=Martin van|date=2013-03-07|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-31140-4|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FXllDwAAQBAJ&q=suleiman+the.magnificent+world%27s+most+powerful+empire&pg=RA2-PA374|title=Encyclopedia of World History, Ackerman-Schroeder-Terry-Hwa Lo, 2008: Encyclopedia of World History|publisher=Fact on File Publishing|date=2008-07-08|language=en}}{{Citation |title=Introduction: Austria and Modernity |date=2018 |work=The Habsburg Monarchy 1815–1918 |pages=1–24 |editor-last=Beller |editor-first=Steven |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/habsburg-monarchy-18151918/introduction-austria-and-modernity/E8B82C62FF06A5D2CED0DC79CA1B820A |access-date=2024-07-05 |series=New Approaches to European History |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781316135679.002 |isbn=978-1-107-09189-4|url-access=subscription }} During the [Cold War](/source/Cold_War), the term [superpower](/source/superpower) has been applied to both the [United States](/source/United_States) and the [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union) and (earlier) the British Empire. More recently, superpower status has been commonly attributed to the United States and [China](/source/China).[https://power.lowyinstitute.org/ Lowy Institute - Home] This concept is more common than that of hyperpower largely because it is [not possible to identify a single hegemonic force in global affairs](/source/Balance_of_power_(international_relations)). ==See also== *[Superpower](/source/Superpower) *[Great power](/source/Great_power) *[Regional power](/source/Regional_power) *[Middle power](/source/Middle_power) *[Small power](/source/Small_power) *[Microstate](/source/Microstate) ==References== {{Reflist}} Category:Hegemony Category:International relations Category:Types of countries --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hyperpower](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperpower) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperpower?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.