In the field of international relations, a zone of influence (SOI) is
a spatial region or concept division over which a state or
organization has a level of cultural, economic, military, or political
exclusivity, accommodating to the interests of powers outside the
borders of the state that controls it.
While there may be a formal alliance or other treaty obligations
between the influenced and influence, such formal arrangements are not
necessary and the influence can often be more of an example of soft
power. Similarly, a formal alliance does not necessarily mean that one
country lies within another's sphere of influence. High levels of
exclusivity have historically been associated with higher levels of
conflict.
In more extreme cases, a country within the "sphere of influence" of
another may become a subsidiary of that state and serve in effect as a
satellite state or de facto colony. The system of spheres of influence
by which powerful nations intervene in the affairs of others continues
to the present. It is often analyzed in terms of superpowers, great
powers, and/or middle powers.
An example of spheres of influence was
China
China in the late 19th and
early 20th Century, when Britain, France, Germany, and
Russia
Russia (later
replaced by Japan) had de facto control over large swaths of
territory. These were taken by unequal treaties or as very long term
"leases".[1] These powers (and the United States) might have their own
courts, post offices, commercial institutions, railroads, and gunboats
in what was on paper Chinese territory. However, the foreign powers
and their influence in some cases could have been exaggerated.[2] The
system ended with the Second World War.
For another example, during the height of its existence in World
War II, the
Japanese Empire
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Japan_(1870–1999).svg.png)
Japanese Empire had quite a large sphere of
influence. The Japanese government directly governed events in Korea,
Vietnam, Taiwan, and parts of China. The "Greater East Asia
Co-Prosperity Sphere" could thus be quite easily drawn on a map of the
Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean as a large "bubble" surrounding the islands of
Japan
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Japan(bordered).svg.png)
Japan and
the Asian and Pacific nations it controlled.
Sometimes portions of a single country can fall into two distinct
spheres of influence. In the colonial era the buffer states of Iran
and Thailand, lying between the empires of Britain/
Russia
Russia and
Britain/
France
France respectively, were divided between the spheres of
influence of the imperial powers. Likewise, after World War II,
Germany
Germany was divided into four occupation zones, which later
consolidated into West
Germany
Germany and East Germany, the former a member
of
NATO
.svg/440px-North_Atlantic_Treaty_Organization_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
NATO and the latter a member of the Warsaw Pact.
The term is also used to describe non-political situations, e.g., a
shopping mall is said to have a sphere of influence which designates
the geographical area where it dominates the retail trade.
Contents
1 Historical remnants
2 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
3 End of World War II
4 Cold War
5 1990s to present
6 United States
7 Corporations
8 Other examples
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
Historical remnants[edit]
A map of colonial Africa in 1897 showing the European "sphere[s] of
influence".
Many areas of the world are considered to have inherited culture from
a previous sphere of influence, that while perhaps today halted,
continues to share the same culture. Examples include the Anglosphere,
Arab World, Eurosphere, Francophonie, Françafrique, Germanosphere,
Indosphere, Latin Europe/Latin America, Lusophonie, Turkosphere,
Chinese cultural sphere, Slavisphere, Hispanophone, Malay World, as
well as many others.
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact[edit]
According to a secret protocol attached to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact
of 1939 (revealed only after Germany's defeat in 1945), Northern and
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe were divided into
Nazi
Nazi and Soviet spheres of
influence.[3] In the North, Finland, Estonia, and
Latvia
Latvia were assigned
to the Soviet sphere.[3]
Poland
Poland was to be partitioned in the event of
its "political rearrangement"—the areas east of the Narev, Vistula,
and San Rivers going to the
Soviet Union
.jpg/460px-Soviet_Union-1964-stamp-Chapayev_(film).jpg)
Soviet Union while
Germany
Germany would occupy
the west.[3] Lithuania, adjacent to East Prussia, would be in the
German sphere of influence, although a second secret protocol agreed
in September 1939 assigned
Lithuania
Lithuania to the USSR.[4] Another clause of
the treaty stipulated that Bessarabia, then part of Romania, would
join the Moldovan ASSR and become the
Moldovan SSR
Moldovan SSR under the control
of Moscow.[3] The Soviet invasion of
Bukovina
Bukovina on 28 June 1940 violated
the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, as it went beyond the Soviet sphere of
influence as agreed with the Axis.[5] The USSR continued to deny the
existence of the Pact's protocols until after the dissolution of the
USSR when the Russian government fully acknowledged the existence and
authenticity of the secret protocols.[6]
End of World War II[edit]
From 1941 and the German attack on the Soviet Union, the Allied
Coalition operated on the unwritten assumption that the Western Powers
and the
Soviet Union
Soviet Union had each its own sphere of influence. The
presumption of the US-British and Soviet unrestricted rights in their
respective spheres started causing difficulties as the Nazi-controlled
territory shrank and the allied powers successively liberated other
states. The wartime spheres lacked a practical definition and it had
never been determined if a dominant allied power was entitled to
unilateral decisions only in the area of military activity, or could
also force its will regarding political, social and economic future of
other states. This overly informal system backfired during the late
stages of the war and afterwards, when it turned out that the Soviets
and the Western Allies had very different ideas concerning the
administration and future development of the liberated regions and of
Germany
Germany itself.[7]
Cold War[edit]
During the
Cold War
Cold War the Baltic states, Central Europe, some countries
in Eastern Europe, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, North Korea, and, until the
Sino-Soviet split, the People's Republic of China, among other
countries at various times, were said to lie under the Soviet sphere
of influence. Western Europe, Oceania, Japan, and South Korea, among
other places, were often said to lie under the sphere of influence of
the United States. However, the level of control exerted in these
spheres varied and was not absolute. For instance,
France
France and Great
Britain were able to act independently to invade (with Israel) the
Suez Canal
Suez Canal (they were later forced to withdraw by joint U.S. and
Soviet pressure). Later,
France
France was also able to withdraw from the
military arm of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Cuba
often took positions that put it at odds with its Soviet ally,
including momentary alliances with the People's Republic of China,
economic reorganizations, and providing support for insurgencies in
Africa and the Americas without prior approval from the Soviet
Union.[citation needed]
With the end of the Cold War, the Eastern Bloc fell apart, effectively
ending the Soviet sphere of influence. Then in 1991, the Soviet Union
collapsed, replaced by the
Russian Federation
Russian Federation and several ex-Soviet
Republics became independent states.
1990s to present[edit]
See also: Foreign relations of Russia
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the countries of Eastern Europe,
the Caucasus, and Central
Asia
Asia that became independent were often
portrayed as part of the Russian Federation's "sphere of influence".
According to Ulrich Speck, writing for Carnegie Europe, "After the
breakup of the Soviet Union, the West's focus was on Russia. Western
nations implicitly treated the post-Soviet countries (besides the
Baltic states) as Russia's sphere of influence."[8]
In 1997,
NATO
NATO and
Russia
Russia signed the Founding Act on Mutual Relations,
Cooperation and Security, stating the "aim of creating in Europe a
common space of security and stability, without dividing lines or
spheres of influence limiting the sovereignty of any state."[9]
In 2009,
Russia
Russia asserted that the
European Union
European Union desires a sphere of
influence and that the
Eastern Partnership
Eastern Partnership is "an attempt to extend"
it.[10] In March 2009, Sweden's foreign minister
Carl Bildt
Carl Bildt stated
that "The
Eastern Partnership
Eastern Partnership is not about spheres of influence. The
difference is that these countries themselves opted to join".[10]
Following the 2008 Russo-Georgian War,
Václav Havel
Václav Havel and other former
central and eastern European leaders signed an open letter stating
that
Russia
Russia had "violated the core principles of the Helsinki Final
Act, the Charter of Paris... -all in the name of defending a sphere of
influence on its borders."[11] In April 2014,
NATO
NATO stated that
"Contrary to [the Founding Act],
Russia
Russia now appears to be attempting
to recreate a sphere of influence by seizing a part of Ukraine,
maintaining large numbers of forces on its borders, and demanding, as
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently stated, that
“Ukraine cannot be part of any bloc.”"[12] Criticising
Russia
Russia in
November 2014, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel said that "old thinking
about spheres of influence, which runs roughshod over international
law" put the "entire European peace order into question".[13] In
January 2017, British Prime Minister
Theresa May
Theresa May said, "We should not
jeopardise the freedoms that President Reagan and Mrs Thatcher brought
to
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe by accepting President Putin's claim that it is now
in his sphere of influence."[14]
United States[edit]
See also: Foreign relations of the United States, Carter Doctrine, and
Monroe Doctrine
Corporations[edit]
In corporate terms, the sphere of influence of a business,
organization or group can show its power and influence in the
decisions of other businesses/organizations/groups. Influence shows in
several ways, such as in size, frequency of visits, etc. In most
cases, a company described as "bigger" has a larger sphere of
influence.
For example, the software company
Microsoft
Microsoft has a large sphere of
influence in the market of operating systems; any entity wishing to
sell a software product may weigh up compatibility with Microsoft's
products as part of a marketing plan.[citation needed]
In another example, retailers wishing to make the most profits must
ensure they open their stores in the correct location. This is also
true for shopping centers that, to reap the most profits, must be able
to attract customers to their vicinity.[citation needed]
There is no defined scale measuring such spheres of influence.
However, one can evaluate the spheres of influence of two shopping
centers by seeing how far people are prepared to travel to each
shopping center, how much time they spend in its vicinity, how often
they visit, the order of goods available, etc.[citation needed]
Other examples[edit]
An 1878 British cartoon about
The Great Game
The Great Game between the United
Kingdom and
Russia
Russia over influence in Central Asia
For historical and current examples of significant battles over
spheres of influence see:
The Great Game
Geostrategy in Central Asia
See also[edit]
Geopolitics
National interest
Balance of power in international relations
Eurosphere
Lateral pressure theory
Unequal treaty
References[edit]
^ Spheres of Influence in China
^ Patrick Fuliang Shan, “What was the ‘Sphere of Influence’? A
Study of Chinese Resistance to the Russian Empire in North Manchuria,
1900-1917,” The Chinese Historical Review, (Fall 2006, vol. 13, no.
2), pp.271-291.
^ a b c d Text of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, executed August
23, 1939
^ Christie, Kenneth, Historical Injustice and Democratic Transition in
Eastern
Asia
Asia and Northern Europe: Ghosts at the Table of Democracy,
RoutledgeCurzon, 2002, ISBN 0-7007-1599-1
^ Brackman, Roman The Secret
File
File of Joseph Stalin: A Hidden Life
(2001) p. 341
^ Etkind, Alexander; Finnin, Rory; Blacker, Uilleam; Julie Fedor;
Simon Lewis; Maria Mälksoo; Matilda Mroz (2013). Remembering Katyn.
John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780745662961.
^ Norman Davies, Europe at War 1939–1945: No Simple Victory, pp.
172-174. Penguin Books, New York 2006, ISBN 978-0-14-311409-3
^ Speck, Ulrich (9 December 2014). "The EU Must Prepare for a Cold
Peace With Russia". Carnegie Europe.
^ "Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security between
NATO
NATO and the
Russian Federation
Russian Federation signed in Paris, France". NATO. 27 May
1997.
^ a b Pop, Valentina (21 March 2009). "EU expanding its 'sphere of
influence,'
Russia
Russia says". EUObserver.
^ Valdas Adamkus, Martin Bútora, Emil Constantinescu, Pavol Demeš,
Luboš Dobrovský, Mátyás Eörsi, István Gyarmati, Václav Havel,
Rastislav Káčer, Sandra Kalniete, Karel Schwarzenberg, Michal
Kováč, Ivan Krastev, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Mart Laar, Kadri Liik,
János Martonyi, Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Vaira
Vīķe-Freiberga, Alexandr Vondra,
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa (15 July 2009). "An
Open Letter to the Obama Administration from Central and Eastern
Europe". Gazeta Wyborcza. CS1 maint: Uses authors parameter
(link)
"An Open Letter". Radio Free Europe.
^ "Russia's accusations - setting the record straight, Fact Sheet -
April 2014". NATO. 12 May 2014.
^ Rettman, Andrew (17 November 2014). "Merkel:
Russia
Russia cannot veto EU
expansion". EUobserver.
^ "FULL TEXT: Theresa May's speech to the Republican 'Congress of
Tomorrow' conference".
Business
.png/440px-Business.com_New_Logo_March_2013_(transparent).png)
Business Insider. 26 January 2017. Archived
from the original on 27 January 2017.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Spheres of influence.
The CommonCensus Map Project – Calculates the spheres of influence
for American cities based on voting
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Russia - a counterbalancing agent to the Asia.
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