Great Power

   A country which ranks amongst the most powerful in the world hierarchy, having the capacity to exert significant economic, political and social influence in international affairs. As such, Great Powers are the arbiters of world diplomacy whose opinions must be taken into account by other nations before effecting initiatives. Characteristically, they have the ability to intervene militarily almost anywhere, and they also exert influence in the form of economic investment in less developed portions of the world. After 1945, the United States, the Soviet Union, France, China, and the United Kingdom were formalised as the five Powers with permanent seats and veto power in the United Nations Security Council. However, since then the industrial and military might of the UK have declined so that many observers would see it as a middle Power, one which cannot dominate other states, but does still retain significant influence in world affairs. Arguably, in the early twenty-first century, the USA is the only Great Power.