Is China a Superpower?
An Empirical Analysis
by Konstantinos-Taxiarchis Bonis
This article examines whether the People’s Republic of China is already a superpower and to what extent it can defy American dominance. First, the definitions of “power” and “superpower” are conceptualized and applied to the case study of the People’s Republic of China. Although numerous determinants of power are found in the literature, this analysis chooses three according to the definition by David Jablonsky: the economy, the military, and population/ demographics. The analysis leads to the conclusion that China is a great power due to its unprecedented growing influence over four decades, but not a superpower because it cannot undermine the USA to the proper extent, when all the determinants of power are taken into consideration.
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Picture: ‘PRC flag at the National Security Exhibition Gallery in Hong Kong’ by Yuet Man Lee under a CC BY-SA 4.0 License.
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Institute of International Relations or its Researchers.