superpowers-BRICS
Brazil - Economic, Political and Military
Brazil has a large volume of natural resources, but it has not been particularly stable politically since 2010.
Political characteristics
-Brazil has been politically less stable in recent years. It has had protests every year since 2013.
-Recently a 10-day strike of Brazil’s truckers saw the country grind to a halt as nothing was transported around the country.
-There is growing unrest because of government spending cuts and accusations of government corruption.
-Dilma Rousseff, the 36th President of Brazil, found herself impeached in a growing corruption scandal involving the Brazilian upper classes.
economic characteristics
-Brazil is a regional power in South America and produces half of the region’s GDP.
-Its economy is growing and is predicted to grow by 2.3% in 2018.
-However, it relies on primary products for export and this is considered less stable than manufacturing.
-It has a large oil and gas sector and is the world’s 10th largest oil producer.
-It has huge natural resource reserves.
-It is self-sufficient in food and energy and has been a net exporter of oil since 2011.
Military characteristics
-Brazil makes up 60% of South America’s total military budget.
-But Brazil’s military spending is significantly lower than that of the other BRIC nations.
-As a percentage of GDP, the total military expenditure has been falling since 1985.
In 2017 Brazil spent 2.166% of its GDP on its military according to the World Bank.
Brazil - Cultural, Demographic and Environmental
Brazil has a global cultural influence and has favourable demographics over the next few years.
Cultural characteristics
-Brazil has global cultural influence through its world-famous Rio carnival and through sports
-Hosting the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic games in 2016 has helped increase Brazil’s global influence.
-However, its national language, Portuguese, is unlikely to be used globally, so it is hard to exert its power and culture through multimedia TNCs like the USA.
Environmental characteristics
-Brazil faces major environmental issues- namely deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
-The Amazon rainforest is home to 13% of the world’s biodiversity
-Brazil does support global initiatives, such as the UN Global Climate Change Conference however it needs to deal with its own environmental issues too.
Demographic characteristics
-Brazil is arguably in a better demographic position than many of the other BRIC nations.
-It has a young population with a median age of 31.3 in 2015.
-However, the fertility rate is falling and fell from 6 in 1960 to 1.8 in 2015. If this decline continues, an ageing population could result.
The Amazon rainforest
-Brazil managed to see an 80% decrease in large-scale deforestation of the Amazon between 2004-2012 by increasing law enforcement, expanding protected areas and recognizing indigenous tribes and their territories.
-They managed to achieve this whilst increasing production of cattle and soy. These were two of the main causes of deforestation.
-However, between 2015-2017, Brazil’s deforestation rate has doubled again as the political unrest means the law enforcement efforts have relaxed.
Russia - Economic, Military and Political Characteristics
Russia has strengths and weaknesses that might inhibit or advance its economic and geopolitical role in the future.
Economic characteristics
-Russia is the 9th largest economy in the world.
-However, its economy is very dependent on oil and gas exports. This makes it vulnerable to price fluctuations in those commodities.
-The World Bank has predicted that Russia’s economy will grow slowly at 1.5%-1.8% between 2018-2020 but makes it clear that this is dependent on changing oil prices.
Politics in russia
-In recent years, Russia’s global influence has once again increased (following a decline after the collapse of the USSR).
-However, its strategy to gain this global influence has sometimes been to step into global situations where the West will not. This has made some of its political actions in recent years controversial.
-It played a major role in Syria between 2012-2017.
-in 2013, russia became the worlds largest arms exporter- selling the most weapons to other countries
-recently, it has sold arms to nigeria to combat boko haram- an example of it trying to expand its global influence
Military characteristics
-Military spending has increased but Russia has far less military strength than China or the USA. However, Russia does have nuclear weapons.
-It has half the number of active personnel of China.
-It does have more aircraft and more tanks than China but many of these are ageing and relicts of the USSR.
-like china, it has 1 aircraft carrier
Russia - Cultural, Demographic and Environmental
Russia has strengths and weaknesses that might inhibit or advance its economic and geopolitical role in the future.
Cultural characteristics
-Russia has a history of global influence, largely from its days as the USSR.
-This means that Russian is still spoken beyond the borders of Russia itself, but only in the region of the old USSR.
-Russia has a large cultural tourist industry with people visiting the country however it has few cultural exports. Western culture dominates internationally.
-In 2018, it hosted the Football World Cup. There were concerted efforts to portray the areas visited by tourists in a positive light.
Demographic characteristics
-Russia’s population is declining. Between 1991 and 2015 it declined for 21 of these 25 years.
-Its fertility rate is now 1.75.
-In 2017 it was announced that the government would spend $8.6billion over 3 years on measures to increase the birth rate. Putin has offered mortgage subsidies and payments to new and growing families.
Environmental characteristics
-Like Brazil, Russia faces deforestation as a large issue. The Taiga or Boreal forest in the North of the country is deforested for pulp and paper production.
-This logging increases CO2 emissions and reduces biodiversity.
-Owing to Russia’s historic nuclear weapons program and nuclear energy sector, nuclear contamination of the countryside is another major environmental concern for the country.
India - Economic, Political and Military
India is the second-largest English speaking nation in the world and is the world's largest democracy.
Political characteristics
-India is the world’s largest democracy and is politically stable.
-It has over 800 million voters and its youthful population means that 2.7% of those were aged 18-19 years old.
-It was a founding member of the UN and maintains a role in UN peacekeeping missions.
-However, the 'caste system' treats Indians from different backgrounds differently, in a way that isn't too different to Apartheid in South Africa. People from lower castes have worse opportunities.
-Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014 with an agenda to reform india and modernise its economy
Military characteristics
-Global Fire Power ranks India as the world’s 4th largest military power in terms of its weaponry.
-india has nuclear weapons
Economic characteristics
-India is the second largest English-speaking nation in the world (after America) which means it has seen economic growth through the growth of its services sector.
-Many global TNCs outsource their services in IT to India. BT has call centres in Bangalore
-India also has universities with global reputations that will allow it to continue being regarded as a well-educated nation.
-India is expected to grow its economy by 7-8% up to 2020.
-However, poverty is still high and sanitation is often poor, with many people not using toilets across India.
India - Cultural, Demographic and Environmental
India is the second-largest English speaking nation in the world and is the world's largest democracy.
Cultural characteristics
-India has global cultural influence as the birthplace of 4 world religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism).
-There is still some disquiet between Hindus and Muslims in India. In 2012, 97 people died in religion-related riots.
Demographic characteristics
-India has the world’s second largest population at 1.3 billion people.
-The ability to speak English that has helped India to grow and attracted jobs from TNCs.
-India's population doesn’t have the problems of other BRICs with an ageing population- the working population may exceed China’s by 2020.
-It has a youthful population and a fertility rate that remains above replacement level at 2.4 children per women.
Environmental characteristics
-India is a very biodiverse country with 6% of the world’s plant and animals species.
-But, similarly to other BRICs, India has severe problems with pollution.
-It’s the world’s 3rd largest carbon emitter and has many problems with slums.
OPEC - Power Case Study
Economic power, political power, and environmental power are mainly affected by OPEC. OPEC members include Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran, Libya, and Nigeria.
What is OPEC?*
-OPEC stands for the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
-It was founded in 1960.
-OPEC helps to set the global oil price.
An example of OPEC's actions
-In October 1973, OPEC members reduced the amount of oil that they produce, leading to an increase in the oil price by 70% to $2.90 per barrel of oil.
-Months later, OPEC cut production and the price of oil rose to $11.65/barrel.
-The author Ellen Wald describes this as '‘oil-rich nations wielded their economic influence over the industrialised world’.
The power of OPEC
-If OPEC members decide to increase their production of oil, oil prices fall. Some countries have to spend more money to extract oil. So oil companies in these nations are more likely to go bankrupt if OPEC members cut oil prices. The American Shale Gas industry is an expensive producer of oil, so it is vulnerable to oil price decreases.
-Politically, Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia, was owned by American oil company. During the 1970s, Saudi Arabia was a member of OPEC and put the USA under embargo for a short period.
-Oil and natural gas are usually cheaper sources of energy than renewables. From an environmental perspective, countries are more likely to use oil as an energy source if it is cheap.