The Geography of power

The USA has the world's most powerful military machine on Earth and it is geographically widespread
If we examine the only true superpower still in existence, the USA, we can identify several ways in which it maintains its global hegemony
1. This gives the USA huge military reach
The US armed forces consist of (2008 data)
1. 520,000 personnel in the navy and marines
2. 540,000 army personnel
3. 330,000 personnel in the air force
The US Navy has 12 aircraft carriers and 70 submarines, allowing it to operate anywhere in the world
1. No other power has this capability at the moment
The USA is economically dominant and its companies are geographically widespread
The Forbes Global 2000 list identifies the 2,000 largest TNCs in the world. In 2008, US-based companies accounted for 776 of the top 2,000, followed by Japan with 331 and the UK with 132
The USA plays a major role in world trade, much of which is conducted in US dollars
The dollar is the world's reserve currency. This means that governments around the world hold reserves of dollars in their central banks
There are more US banknotes abroad than there are in the USA
Much of the world arguably has an interest in maintaining a stable USA, and friendly relations with the country, only because of the importance of the dollar
Cultural Hegemony
1. The most obvious way of maintaining power is through direct force, usually in the form of police, army and security forces
  1. Power is not generally maintained in this way unless a society's leaders feel under threat of being overthrown by their people
2. The Italian Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci described a particular type of power which he referred to as hegemony or cultural hegemony
3. Gramsci, imprisoned in Mussolini's fascist Italy, was impressed by the way Mussolini maintained power without the need to resort to direct force
4. Gramsci believed power was maintained largely by consent
5. The values of those in power were accepted by people and this kept them in power
6. Education, religion, and the media subtly reinforced the values of the powerful and maintained their hegemony
7. The ideology of the powerful simply becomes accepted as the 'way things are' and is rarely challenged
8. US cultural hegemony is largely unchallenged, at least for the moment
9. The dominance of US consumer culture can be identified through 'brand value'
10. The annual business week interbrand survey identifies the most valuable global brands. In 2008, 53 of the top 100 brands by value were from the USA

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The Geography of power

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	Created by Jodie Goodacre over 10 years ago