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superpower

State with a leading position in the international system and the ability to influence events in its own interest by global projection of power

EntityQ1489259

Subclass of: nation
Part of: hierarchy of powers

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

A superpower is a sovereign state or supranational union that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to exert influence and project power on a global scale. Although there are no formal, universally accepted criteria, superpower status is generally achieved by combining hard power and soft power. While a great power can exert its influence globally, superpowers are the ones so impactful that no significant action can be taken by the global community without first considering their positions. In this sense, superpowers are preeminent among the great powers; more narrowly, the term may be applied in specific contexts, such as energy superpower, economic superpower, or military superpower.

Overview

All data

20 statements · 35% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Different from: world power
great power
hyperpower
superpower
Studied by: political science

On other databases

14 identifiers linking superpower across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

35%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 25, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). superpower (Q1489259). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/superpower-Q1489259