National interest often involves claiming sovereignty over territory. This is the case in the Arctic, where five countries — Canada, the United States, Denmark, Norway, and Russia — claim sovereignty to islands and the seabed. Two factors have highlighted the importance of claiming sovereignty in the Arctic.

The most common objectives are maintaining good relations with other countries, protection of ideology, welfare of people, enhancement of national prestige and power. Each state defines its objectives to suit its national interests.

National interests are a public declaration of a country’s needs and intentions based on an assessment of the current situation. Such a declaration performs several key functions. Firstly, it establishes a hierarchy of foreign policy priorities to avoid the ineffective use of resources and overextension.

national interest: A country’s goals and ambitions whether economic, military, or cultural. Also important is the pursuit of wealth, economic growth, and power. foreign policy: A government’s policy relating to matters beyond its own jurisdiction: usually relations with other nations and international organisations.

Hard power is coercive power executed through military threats and economic inducements and based on tangible resources such as the army or economic strength. In contrast, soft power is persuasive power deriving from attraction and emulation and grounded on intangible resources such as culture.

Hard power encompasses a wide range of coercive policies, such as coercive diplomacy, economic sanctions, military action, and the forming of military alliances for deterrence and mutual defense.

There are several ways one can achieve this: you can coerce them with threats; you can induce them with payments; or you can attract and co-opt them to want what you want. This soft power – getting others to want the outcomes you want – co-opts people rather than coerces them.

➔ Power can be maintained using ​soft power​through the spread of ​culture and ideology​. For this, media is vital for promoting the beliefs and messages of superpowers. The current global superpower, America, uses soft power to maintain a global influence through ​McDonaldisation​and ‘Americanisation’.

Secondly, many superpowers exert their influence through the use of their economic power. Wealth allows countries to export their power around the world, buy resources and influence trade patterns. Another way in which superpowers exert their influence is by means of cultural power.

Through these IGOs, the USA and EU are able to exert considerable influence over the global economy. Some argue that this allows superpowers to maintain their power at the expense of other countries. Often, powers such as the USA and EU vote with each other, allowing them to push through policies in their own interest.

A superpower is a state with a dominant position characterized by its extensive ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, technological, political and cultural strength as well as diplomatic and soft power influence.

Weakest Countries In the World

1. Tuvalu Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia.
2. Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island country in the Americas, lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Britain

The United Kingdom today retains extensive global soft power, including a formidable military. The United Kingdom has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council alongside only 4 other powers, and is one of the nine nuclear powers.

From the mid 18th century, the Royal Navy was the world’s most powerful navy. It was an unmatched power and played a key part in ascertaining order in the British Empire. The UK defense budget is still the 5th largest in the world and the Royal Navy remains in the front rank of the world’s navies.

• United States. #1 in Power Rankings. No Change in Rank from 2020.
• China. #2 in Power Rankings. #3 out of 73 in 2020.
• Russia. #3 in Power Rankings. #2 out of 73 in 2020.
• Germany. #4 in Power Rankings.
• United Kingdom. #5 in Power Rankings.
• Japan. #6 in Power Rankings.
• France. #7 in Power Rankings.
• South Korea. #8 in Power Rankings.

The more money came into Britain, the more money they could put into their navy, which then could protect the trade lanes, allowing more trade, which meant more money. This led to a few Anglo-Dutch wars, which eventually led to Britain being the main naval power in Europe.

France stands at $2.7 trillion, the UK at $2.2 trillion, Italy at $2.1 trillion.

Germany is about 1.5 times bigger than United Kingdom. United Kingdom is approximately 243,610 sq km, while Germany is approximately 357,022 sq km, making Germany 47% larger than United Kingdom.