A
hyperpower
is a
state
that
is
militarily,
economically,
and
technologically
dominant
on
the
world
stage.
The
term
was
first
used
to
describe
the
United
States
in
the
1990s,
but
has
also
been
applied,
retroactively,
to
the
British
Empire.
After the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, some political commentators felt that a new term was needed to describe the United States' position as the lone superpower. Ben Wattenberg coined the term 'omnipower' in 1990 and Peregrine Worsthorne used the term 'hyper-power' in 1991. French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine popularized the term hyperpower in his various criticisms of the United States beginning in 1998.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hyperpower".