Superpowers: influence, dependence and contested futures
Compare dimensions of power, trace strategic dependencies and evaluate claims about changing global influence.
A-level study: check your qualification and chosen options below.
Choose evidence for power
Economic output, military capacity, technology, institutions and cultural influence describe different forms of power. Influence also depends on alliances and where resources can be deployed.
Compare GDP measures and years carefully. Current exchange-rate GDP and purchasing-power comparisons answer different questions; neither supplies a universal ranking of influence.
Worked example
A fictional state has 20% of world output and another 15%. These shares do not establish diplomatic or technological control; each requires suitable indicators.
Common mistake: One large economic indicator cannot establish dominance in every domain.
Trace strategic dependencies
Supply chains, energy routes, finance and digital systems connect power to particular places. Control of a bottleneck can create leverage, while dependence can be mutual.
Resources create opportunities but bargaining also depends on alternatives, processing capacity, institutions and ownership. Critical-mineral demand does not guarantee producer prosperity.
Worked example
A fictional importer gets 70% of a mineral from one supplier but can substitute half its use. Concentration signals exposure; the substitution and timescale alter actual dependence.
Common mistake: Resource reserves alone do not establish control of the whole value chain.
Evaluate competing future scenarios
Power can shift through economic change, technology, demographics and alliances. Scenarios specify assumptions and pathways; they are not inevitable forecasts.
Evaluate whose perspective produces the scenario and which indicators would challenge it. Multi-polar influence can differ by issue and region.
Worked example
A fictional output projection assumes 4% annual growth for ten years. Starting at 100 gives about 148, but demographic, policy and shock assumptions govern whether this path is plausible.
Common mistake: A projected trend is not evidence that the future outcome has occurred.
Try a different resource
Source evaluation
A source can accurately describe its respondents while giving weak evidence about the wider population.
| Record | Detail |
|---|---|
| Study area | Fictional Eastbank town centre |
| Period | One Tuesday, 12:00–14:00, May 2025 |
| Recruitment | Volunteers passing one bus stop |
| Respondents | 240 |
| Reported satisfaction with buses | 48 |
Resource description
Fictional survey source record
Write an explanation
Check your answer
- Define power through several dimensions.
- Explain dependencies and institutions.
- Compare suitable dated indicators.
- Judge uncertainty and variation by issue and region.
Practise and review a written answer
Case studies
Mining and development in Peru · Viet Nam and global value chains · Concentrated solar power at Noor Ouarzazate
These pages provide selected evidence. Check the whole case requirement with your teacher.
Read further
- qualifications.pearson.com — source or course reference
- www.aqa.org.uk — source or course reference
- www.aqa.org.uk — source or course reference
Global value chains · Measuring development · Matching evidence to a claim
Course links
Pearson Edexcel A-level Geography
Next topics
Globalisation: flows, value capture and dependence · Global governance and the Antarctic commons
Selected teaching sequence with fictional worked data. The linked case records supply bounded evidence; they do not satisfy every course case requirement.