Potential Superpowers

Potential Superpowers

A potential superpower is a state or a political and economic entity that is speculated to be, or is in the process of becoming, a superpower at some point in the 21st century. Presently, only the United States fulfils the criteria to be considered a superpower. States most commonly mentioned as being potential superpowers are Brazil, China, India, Russia (the BRIC countries), and the European Union (a supranational entity), based on a variety of factors. Collectively, these potential superpowers and the United States comprise 66.6% of global nominal GDP, 62.2% of global GDP (PPP) (EU alone well above 20%), more than one third of the total land area and more than 50% of the world's population.

Predictions made in the past have not been perfect. For example, in the 1980s, many political and economic analysts predicted that Japan would eventually accede to superpower status, due to its large population, huge gross domestic product and high economic growth at that time. Though still the world's third-largest economy as of 2012 in terms of nominal GDP, Japan has faced an ongoing period of weak growth since the Lost Decade of the 1990s, and has been suffering from an aging population since the early 2000s, eroding its potential as a superpower.