Using named examples, assess the relative importance of economic, military and cultural factors in influencing superpower status.

A superpower is defined through the extension of their economic, cultural, geographic and military capabilities. The contemporary example is the USA, with their economic reach the most significant globally, with economic dominance for more than 60 years. Economic power is the most important due to the relative importance of trade and wealth advantage. In terms of cultural and military power, military is significant through the means of threat and global dominance. Cultural dominance may be seen as the least important, however, the subtle homogenisation of global populations is evermore increasing in the contemporary world. It does have to be noted that there is no one right answer, the key word 'assess' allows exploration of new material which may not always be explicitly visible.