Middle state
A middle state (or middle power ) is a state that is too big or too influential to be considered a small state , but also too small or too weak to be a regional power , area state or great power .
General
The term middle power is rarely used because it can be misunderstood - especially in its plural form . The great powers Germany and Austria-Hungary , allied in World War I , are traditionally referred to as (the) Central Powers . Here, however, means refers to the geographical location in Central Europe , not to the size of the states.
Middle states are the object of knowledge in political science and geography , but a generally applicable definition of the terms area or middle state cannot be found here. The specialist literature is based on territorial states with a population of more than 15 million inhabitants, the area must exceed 5,000 km². In 1972 Erich Obst categorized them as macrotopic (area states with more than 800,000 km²), mesotopic ( microstates between 40,000 and 800,000 km²) and minitopic small states (up to 1000 km²). The scientific interest has always been in the great states; these are states with large national territories and high populations .
Historically, the term Mittelstaat is mainly used in German history during the dualism between Prussia and Austria to designate the medium-sized German states of Saxony , Hanover , Bavaria , etc., which are sometimes also summarized as " Third Germany ".
Delimitations
Like the demarcation between small and mini- states , the demarcation between small and medium-sized states or between medium-sized and large states is not clearly defined and depends on the point of view. A state can be a medium-sized state on a global scale, but regionally it can play a role similar to that of a great power, for example Egypt in the Middle East , Indonesia in Southeast Asia or Brazil in South America . Major industrialized countries such as Canada and Japan are classified as central powers as opposed to the classic hegemonic or superpower, in contrast to the great or world power United States . Criteria for classification as a large or medium- sized state are the state area , population , economic and / or financial status, available resources , defense capability and readiness for war.
For a long time, medium-sized states were identified in the social sciences solely through their gross domestic product or their armament expenditures, but more sophisticated methods are now also in use. The political scientist Enrico Fels, for example, identifies six regional central powers in Asia-Pacific using the cluster analysis ( k -means) of a composite index that includes 54 indicators and represents the aggregated power base of 44 regional states. Starting from a realistic ontology , he uses quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze the balancing and bandwagoning strategies of the central powers he has identified in order to get to the bottom of a possible power shift between China and the United States since the end of the Cold War .
Discussion on the reunified Germany
Before and after the accession of the German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990, Germany was increasingly referred to as a middle power again . Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder ( SPD ) used the term to describe the growing international influence of the reunified Germany and to call for greater self-confidence. The gap between “self-assessment” at home and “expectations abroad” must not widen. About ten years later, the assessment as a middle power is increasingly taken for granted, sometimes even perceived as too small. At the beginning of 2016, for example, Wolf Schneider , former editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Die Welt , criticized the consistent use of the term in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as self-dismantling and degradation, given Germany's clear leadership role in Europe.
Web links
- Arnulf Baring : lonely middle power. Without the USA there is no future for Germany - IP, 01/12/2003
- Albrecht Graf von Kalnein: “Middle Power” with church tower politics? Because of globalization: There is hardly any foreign country among the top German politicians - IP, 01/07/2005
Individual evidence
- ^ Bernard Wood: The middle powers and the general interest In: Middle Powers in the International System , The North-South Institute, Ottawa 1988
- ↑ Sven Pastoors / Loek Geeraedts / Amand Berteloot, Adaptation at any price? , 2005, p. 24
- ↑ Wolfgang Ismayr (Ed.), The political systems of West Europe , 1997, p. 677
- ↑ Albert Manke / Katerina Brezinová (eds.), Small states and secondary actors in the Cold War , 2016, p. 56
- ↑ Erich Obst / Martin Schmithüsen (eds.), Allgemeine Staatsgeographie , 1972, p. 347
- ↑ Robert Haas, Small States in International Relations in the 21st Century , 2015, p. 5
- ↑ Martin Mantzke: Friendly middle power. Wilfried von Bredow (ed.), Die Außenpolitik Kanadas (Review) ( Memento from March 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) - in: IP, September 2003
- ↑ Michaela Bachem-Rehm / Claudia Hiepel / Henning Türk (eds.), Overcoming divisions: European and international history in the 19th and 20th centuries , 2014, p. 262
- ↑ Enrico Fels: Shifting Power in Asia-Pacific? The Rise of China, Sino-US Competition and Regional Middle Power Allegiance . Springer, 2017, ISBN 978-3-319-45689-8 , pp. 353-361 ( springer.com ).
- ↑ Schröder: Germany must assume the role of a middle power . In: Die Welt , March 5, 2005, accessed December 31, 2016
- ↑ Wolf Schneider : The largest "middle power" in the world! ( Memento from January 1, 2017 in the Internet Archive ). In: Bilanz , January 16, 2016, accessed on January 1, 2017