Suggest reasons why this data has been used to produce the superpower index (10 marks)

A superpower is a country which exerts influence and power onto other countries through their military, economic growth, GDP, resources, physical size, population and belief systems. A superpower is referred to as a dominant global force in which the USA, China and the EU are all thought to be part of. In order to analyse whether a country may be a superpower or not is through a superpower index whereby the factors of population, GNP, TNC headquarters, patent filings and oil reserves are considered.

Firstly, it should be observed that, as the title reads, the table is only a ‘possible’ superpower index, and therefore alternative combinations of factors could be used. Additionally, this shows that this superpower index is not universal, and therefore the analysis of a superpower can vary. The figure also shows that the data was between 2006 and 2007, and due to the fact this was 9 years ago, the data may not be valid or reliable.

Population has been used to produce the superpower index shown in the figure. The reason for this may be due to the fact that a large population could relate to the strength of the countries workforce, which as a result highlights the influence a country may have on others. A pattern could be recognised throughout developed countries whereby a large population results in a large GDP as a result of a strong workforce. The figure shows that the USA has a population of 300 million, whereas the EU has a population of 490 million, and as a result the USA has a $3 trillion lower GNP than the EU. This could suggest that the market value of all products and services produced by the EU is larger as there is more labour which is potentially stronger, highlighting the EU’s superpower status as their products dominate consumer markets. x GNP was chosen in