"Second superpower" is a term used to conceptualize a global
civil society
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.United States of America. The term originates from a 2003 '' New York Times'' article which described world
public opinion
Public opinion is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to a society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them.
Etymology
The term "public opinion" was derived from the French ', which was first use ...
as one of two superpowers.
It has also been applied to the USSR in the past, and to China, a rising power in the 21st century.
Peace movement in opposition to invasion of Iraq
Invention in response to February 2003 demonstrations
On February 15, 2003 global demonstrations took place against the impending
invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
. These involved between six and thirty million people and were listed in the ''
Guinness Book of World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' as including the largest anti-war rally in history. In reaction, '' New York Times'' writer Patrick Tyler wrote in a February 17 article that:
:
Popularization as a description of popular opinion
The New York Times article was widely circulated in the
peace movement
A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world pe ...
during February 2003, adding to the hope among many participants that galvanizing world public opinion could prevent the Iraq War.
UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the found ...
began to use the phrase "two superpowers" in speeches. In March, " The Nation" magazine cover story was titled "The Other Superpower". In it,
Jonathan Schell
Jonathan Edward Schell (August 21, 1943 – March 25, 2014) was an American author and visiting fellow at Yale University, whose work primarily dealt with campaigning against nuclear weapons.
Personal
Schell was born in New York City on August 2 ...
wrote:
:
Though worldwide popular opposition failed to prevent the invasion of Iraq, leading some to reject the notion, the phrase is still popular among people in the
anti-war
An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...
and
anti-globalization
The anti-globalization movement or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class i ...
's
Berkman Center for Internet and Society
The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, ...
posted an essay entitled ''The Second Superpower Rears Its Beautiful Head''. In it, he advocated four ideas: embrace the concept explicitly within the peace movement as an inspirational goal and a counter to the "first superpower" idea promoted by the Bush administration, continue to develop blogging and other means of linking the community globally, find ways to influence first superpower institutions including international institutions and international law, and continue to develop reflective personal consciousness so as to be able to lead from love rather than fear.
:
This paper received 50,000 downloads in five days. The substance of the piece was debated by a number of authors, including
Jonathan Rauch
Jonathan Charles Rauch (; born April 26, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and activist. After graduating from Yale University, Rauch worked at the ''Winston-Salem Journal'' in North Carolina, for ''National Journal'', and later for ''The ...
writing in ''
National Journal
''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes d ...
''. Many bloggers linked the paper with Joi Ito's '' Emergent Democracy'' concept and paper.
Some attacked Moore's use of the term to describe primarily the effect of the Internet. Brian Fitzgerald argued in the Greenpeace Weblog:
:
"Googlewashing"
Moore's paper was the subject of an attack on the dissemination process and the relationship of the author and his reviewers to Google, by Andrew Orlowski of The Register. Orlowski accused a small number of webloggers of " Googlewashing", a word Orlowski invented to describe media manipulation of Google to neuter the political significance of the word. He argued:
:
Other states
Soviet Union
During the cold war era the term was heavily applied to Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, as the USSR was a power of comparable influence, but lagged behind the US in economy and wealth.
China
In the 21st century, the term has also been applied by scholars and geopolitical observer to the possibility that the People's Republic of China could emerge as a "second superpower," with global power and influence on par with the United States.
The term is also used by Tony Blair.
Hyperpower
A hyperpower is a state that dominates all other states in every domain (i.e. military, culture, economy, etc.); it has no rivals that can match its capabilities, and is considered to be a step higher than a superpower.
Although the United State ...
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Internet activism
Internet activism is the use of electronic communication technologies such as social media, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular info ...
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Peace movement
A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world pe ...
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Potential superpowers
A potential superpower is a state or a political and economic entity that is speculated to be—or to have the potential to soon become—a superpower.
Currently, only the United States fulfills the criteria to be considered a superpower. How ...
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Power (international relations)
In international relations, power is defined in several different ways. Material definitions of state power emphasize economic and military power. Other definitions of power emphasize the ability to structure and constitute the nature of social ...