Evaluate the need for superpowers to play a key role in trade and international decision making free essay sample

Evaluate the need for superpowers to play a key role in trade and international decision making to maintain their status. A Superpower is a nation with the means to project its power and influence anywhere in the world and be a dominant global force International decision making enables superpowers to make key decisions about the world economy, conflicts or environmental issues. This power is mainly held in the hands of inter-governmental organisations (IGO’s) some IGOs involve all nations, such as the U. N. , whereas others are more exclusive such as the G8, or regional such as NATO. These IGO’s are important for superpowers to maintain their status as it allows them to focus global policy and decision making in their own interest. For example most IGO’s operate a veto voting system, where if a certain country with veto does not agree to the policy then the vote is not carried out. We will write a custom essay sample on Evaluate the need for superpowers to play a key role in trade and international decision making or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Many superpowers use this to their advantage, for example the EU and the USA tend to vote with each other, giving them the opportunity to block policies they do not agree with, therefore allowing them to force their own policies. This makes it difficult for smaller nations with less power to have a role in international decision making. Trade can be defined as ‘the exchange of goods and services’. Goods and services are traded everyday throughout the world and in some cases trade occurs in between certain areas, for example the EU. An example of a superpower would be the U. S. A. This superpower plays a major role in the day to day trade of goods and services. The US imports and exports a majority of items which increase the wealth of the country as well as strengthening relationships with other traders. This is important for all superpowers to maintain their status as it enables them to continue their further growth as a superpower. Trade is often ‘bias’ towards superpowers as cheaper resources are exploited by MDC’s, which are then manufactured into goods, adding value, and then sold back to poorer nations, as reflected in the dependency theory. An estimated 75% of world exports originate from LDC’S whereas 63% of all manufactured exports originate from MDC’s. This aids superpowers in keeping their status as it gives them an economic advantage; this allows them to control prices of trade. Similarly, trade blocks play an important role in superpowers maintaining their status. This is because it encourages free trade between them. For example NAFTA (North American free trade agreement) removes import taxes on certain goods making trade easier and cheaper. Arguably, the most important factor which enables superpowers to maintain their status is their ability to export their culture. The USA is seen as the most powerful force in exporting their culture; this process is often referred to as ‘Americanisation’. For example 31,000 McDonald’s restaurants serve 50 million people every day worldwide.