Hyperpower

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A hyperpower or omnipower is a state that is militarily, economically, and technologically dominant on the world stage. The term was first used to describe the United States in the 1990s, but has also been applied, retroactively, to earlier states like the British Empire.

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[edit] Origin

After the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, some political commentators felt that a new term was needed to describe the United States' position as the lone superpower. Ben Wattenberg coined the term "omnipower" in 1990 and Peregrine Worsthorne used the term "hyper-power" in 1991. French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine popularized the term "hyperpower" in his various criticisms of the United States beginning in 1998. [1]

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[edit] References

  • Last, Jonathan, "Rule America?", The Weekly Standard, News America Incorporated, October 21, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-09-15.
  • Védrine, Hubert. France in an Age of Globalization, Brookings Institution Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8157-0007-5