The EU is definitively a world power or great power. The EU might rise to the level of superpower, which is where the US is.
Being a great power just means that you can exert influence over events on the world stage. Having a meaningful say in how international organizations are run, or the ability to influence conflicts outside of your direct realm of control.
The EU is not yet at a point where no power can take a meaningful action on the world stage without considering how the EU will react to that action, which is one of the defining criteria of a superpower.
Despite having burnt an enormous amount of soft power for no reason, the US still holds a position where they can’t be disregarded. EU military spending patterns are changing because the US is changing it’s stance on a conflict they aren’t really involved in beyond a “superpowers are involved in everything” sense.
Being either type of power has benefits beyond what it gives to those in control. In general, the leverage is used to effectively bribe the populace of the power. Pushing international organizations to prefer vendors from your country, driving business to it. “Thank goodness that agricultural development program bought their equipment from us, we had a great year, our jobs are intact and we actually hired more people”.
It also brings cheap goods preferentially.
The benefit to the people in control is that it simplifies distributing favors to the people who keep them there, which in part includes the general population. “I’ll let you buy these tractors from me on the condition you sell me every mango in your country for a decade. I’ll even give you the tractor money back over the course of the decade. If you don’t accept the deal no one will make a different one with you for fear of me not renewing my contract with them”.
You don’t have to have our broken internal culture to be a power. That only makes it so people take our position for granted.
The EU is definitively a world power or great power. The EU might rise to the level of superpower, which is where the US is.
Being a great power just means that you can exert influence over events on the world stage. Having a meaningful say in how international organizations are run, or the ability to influence conflicts outside of your direct realm of control.
The EU is not yet at a point where no power can take a meaningful action on the world stage without considering how the EU will react to that action, which is one of the defining criteria of a superpower.
Despite having burnt an enormous amount of soft power for no reason, the US still holds a position where they can’t be disregarded. EU military spending patterns are changing because the US is changing it’s stance on a conflict they aren’t really involved in beyond a “superpowers are involved in everything” sense.
Being either type of power has benefits beyond what it gives to those in control. In general, the leverage is used to effectively bribe the populace of the power. Pushing international organizations to prefer vendors from your country, driving business to it. “Thank goodness that agricultural development program bought their equipment from us, we had a great year, our jobs are intact and we actually hired more people”.
It also brings cheap goods preferentially.
The benefit to the people in control is that it simplifies distributing favors to the people who keep them there, which in part includes the general population. “I’ll let you buy these tractors from me on the condition you sell me every mango in your country for a decade. I’ll even give you the tractor money back over the course of the decade. If you don’t accept the deal no one will make a different one with you for fear of me not renewing my contract with them”.
You don’t have to have our broken internal culture to be a power. That only makes it so people take our position for granted.