country case studies

american phsycology and identity

• strong role of religion in public life

• values of individualism, self reliance, optimism and beleif in the american dream

• founding myth of a new civilisation; manifest destiny, new jerusalem, frontier spirit

american hard power

• worlds strongest military; largest budget $997b, 37% of global spending

• unmatched force projection; 11 aircraft carriers

• major nuclear power; 3,750 warheads

• extensive military experience

• assertive diplomacy (AUKUS), lawfare and unilateral sanctions

american economic power

• growing population and large unified domestic market

• dollar dominnance enables cheap financing of deficits

• high efficient innovative ecosystem; GAFAM, tesla, spacex

• strong financial system; venture capital, pension funds

• reindustrialisation stratergy; inflation reduction act

• increasing protectionism and unilateral trade policy

• strategic goal; contain china technologically

american soft power

• elite universities

• cultural industries; hollywood, netflix

• tech platfor,s

american challenges

• deep social and political divisions

• inequalities from globalisation

• dysfunctional political system

• weakened global image after iraq war

• strategic rivalry but interdependence with china

• uncertain relations with the EU

european union historical construction

• began with ECSC in 1951, then rome treaties in 1957

• gradual deepending

• enlargement from 6 to 27 members

• lisbon treaty strengthened institutions

european union institutions

• commission executive, council and parliament legislative

• ECB manages euro monetary policy

• court of justice ensures EU law

• EU is a federation of nation states

european union competencies

• exclusive; trade, competition, monetary policy

• shared; agricukture, climate, single market

• national; taxes, welfare, education

• eu budget focuses on agriuclture, cohesion, innovation, climate and defense

european union hard power

• no unified EU army; defense remains national

• NATO is central

• france is the only EU nuclear power

• military spending high but fragmented and inefficient

european union economic power

• large internal market and major global trader

• ageing and declining population

• weak at scaling innovation into global champions

• dependent on critical raw materials

• high energy costs and productivity gap vs US

• strong social welfare systems

european union soft power

• human rights, rule of law, regulatory standards

• quality of life, culture, tourism, gastronomy

european union challenges

• slow growth and widening gap with the US

• fragmented capital markets

• excess bureaucracy

• politiclal divisions and radicalisation

• immigration managment difficulties

• external pressures; russia, china, US trade policy

american manifest destiny

beleif that americans had a moral duty to build a new civilisation and expand westward

american inflation reduction act

policy using subsidies and tax credits to promote green, local production

russia historical background

• largest country in the world with vast, sparsely populated territories

• population concentrated west of the urals

• dual legacy; tsarist empire + soviet system

• imperial power until 1991; USSr collapsed after the end of the cold war

• initial post soviet turned toward the west, followed by growing confrontation

russia return to imperial logic

• former USSR seen as the near abroad, a priveleged sphere of influence

• objective; block western expantion (EU, NATO) and reassert control

• military interventions; georgia 2008, crimea 2014, donbas, full scale invasion of ukraine 2022

• war in ukraine is long, costly and unresolved

russia hard power

• strong centralized authoritarian regime supported by security elites

• major military power; large conventional forces and worlds largest nuclear arsenal

• expertise in hybrid warfare; cuber, disinformation, sabotage

• military prescence in syria and africa

• structural weaknesses; corrpution, logistics, command quality, aerospace and naval inferiority

russia economic power

• politically powerful but economically weak (GDP similar to spain)

• declining population

• rent based economy focused on oil and gas

• oligarchic system under kremlin control

• resilient to sanctions so far but drifting toward stagflation

russia current challenges

• no decisive military victory in ukraine

• dependence on iran, north korea and china

• society maintained through propaganda, repression and financial incentives

• seeks leadership of an anti western, multipolar order

• conducts hybrid warfare against the EU and NATO

china historical background

• long decline and humiliation

• japanese invasions and western domination

• maoist era marked by collectivisation, repression and chaos

• deng xiaoping laucnhed economic reforms without political liberalisation

• WTO accession in 2001 integrated china into global trade

china xi kinping era

• strong authoritarian turn and centralisation of power

• cult of personality; end of presidential term limits

• tight party control over society and economy

• rejection of western liberal mode

• assertive foreign policy

• end of hong kongs autonomy

china hard power

• rapidly expanding military budget

• naval priority for taiwan and south/east china seas

• military base in djibouti

• limited combat experience

• heavy use of hybrid warfare

• still militarily inferior to the us

china economic power

• major global economic power; 17% of the worlds GDP

• worlds leading exporter of goods

• strong state involvement in the economy

• slowing growth due to demographics, state control and US containment

• dominant position in rare earth minerals processing

china current challenges

• real estate crisis and youth unemployment

• weak domestic consumption and social welfare

• regional inequalities

• demographic slowdown

• strategic competition and containment by the US and indo pacific allies

emerging and developing countries

• third world countries are neither capitalist or socialist, underveloped

• developing countries highlights economic lag

• emerging and developing countries reflects diversity, especially fast growing asian economies

• three economic groups; emerging countries, developing countries, low income developing countries

BRIC → BRICS

• BRIC was created in 2009; brazil, russia, india, china

• south africa joined in 2010 → BRICS

• annual summits and ministerial coordination

• in 2023, 5 new members joined; egypt, ethiopia, iran, saudi arabia, UAE

• argentina denied membershio

• represents 45% of world population and >30% of global gdp

• china dominates economically with 66% of BRICS GDP

• few shared political positions beyond criticism of western dominance

• symbol of a multipolar world

global south

• term re-emerged in 2022

• refers to countries not aligned with the west

• expresses rejection of western norms and dominance

• UN G77 and china includes 78 countries

• growing governance challnges; democracy no longer a universal reference

sub saharan africa structural characteristics

• 49 states out of the 54 in africa

• high fragmentation and widespread conflict (20% of population affected)

demographics and mobility of sub saharan africa

• rapid population growth; 1.2 → 2.3 billion

• major countries; nigeria, ethiopia, DR congo

• strong internal and external migration

• highly vulnerable to climate change

sub saharan africa economic dynamics

• low GDP per capita but underestimated growth due to informal economy

• rising middle classes and urbanisation

• growth in services, telecoms, mobile banking, IT

• comodity based economies remain dominant

• improved macroeconomic management

• rising FDI from emerging economies

sub saharan africa inequalities

• large disparities between and within countries

• nigeria dominates economically; south africa stagnating

• many fragile states remain outside growth dynamics

india historical background

• former major global power, 23% of world GDP in 1700

• mughal empire followed by british colonial rule

• long decline then slow post independence development

• high cultural diversity and integration capacity

india political and social structure

• federal states; 28 states and 7 territories

• linguistic, ethnic and religious diversity

• structural challenges; bureaucracy, corruption, infrastructure gaps, energy dependence, rural poverty

india economic reforms

• market oriented reforms since the 1980s

• manmohan singh led liberalisation in the 1990s

• gradual opening to investment and business growth

india modi era

• pro business and growth oriented

• strong nationalist and authoritarian tendencies

• goal to make india a global power

india hard power

• significant military budget

• nuclear power with regional security challenges

• ongoing naval and air force modernisation

• multipolar diplomacy

india economic power

• large and growing workforce

• low labor costs (below china)

• rapid growth and strong private sector

• persistent weaknesses; infrastructure, energy, protectionism

• still far behind china economically