great powers
Global heavyweight countries
Great powers are nations with major military, economic, and political influence on the global stage.
The term emerged in 19th-century diplomacy to describe states whose interests must be considered in international affairs: The great powers carved up Africa at the Berlin Conference.
Which nations qualify shifts with history—Britain, France, and Russia in one era; the US, China, and others in another.
- hegemonDominant state over others
- superpowerDominant nation or magical ability
- balance of powerEqual distribution of influence
- world powerNation with major influence
- geopoliticsGeography's role in statecraft
collective security · security council · sovereignty · multipolarity · treaty · imperialism · gunboat diplomacy · realpolitik · cold war · iron curtain · balance of terror · diplomacy · nations · nuclear · nuclear umbrella · empires · blocs · influence
- geopoliticsbalance of power, bipolarity, bloc, blocs, brinkmanship
- 19th Century Diplomacyambassador, ambassadors, envoy, envoys, Congress of Vienna
- UN foundingUnited Nations, UN Charter, United Nations Charter, founding members, original members
- WWI causesassassination, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Sarajevo, militarism, alliances
- Qing Diplomacyextraterritoriality, Opium Wars, Treaty of Nanking, spheres of influence, kowtow
- Realpolitikbalance of power, national interest, power politics, statecraft, geopolitics
great powersclient states
Dependent countries under patronage
microstates · buffer states · failed states · vassal states · city-states
great powerssatellite states
Nations controlled by another
client states · vassal states · occupied territories · protectorates · tributary states
great, greatly, greatest, greater, greatness, powers, great-hearted, great power