In international relations, a regional power is a state that has power within a geographic region.^[1][2] States which wield unrivaled power and influence within a region of the world possess regional hegemony.

Characteristics[link]

Regional powers shape the polarity of a regional area. Typically, regional powers have capabilities which are important in the region but do not have capabilities at a global scale. There are slightly differing definitions of what makes a regional power. The European Consortium for Political Research defines a regional power: "A state belonging to a geographically defined region, dominating this region in economic and military terms, able to exercise hegemonic influence in the region and considerable influence on the world scale, willing to make use of power resources and recognized or even accepted as the regional leader by its neighbours".^{[1][dead link]}

The German Institute of Global and Area Studies states that a regional power must:

• be part of a definable region with its own identity
• claim to be a regional power (self-image of a regional power)
• exert decisive influence on the geographic extension of the region as well as on its ideological construction
• dispose over comparatively high military, economic, demographic, political and ideological capabilities
• be well integrated into the region
• define the regional security agenda to a high degree
• be appreciated as a regional power by other powers in the region and beyond, especially by other regional powers
• be well connected with regional and global fora.^[2]

Current regional powers[link]

Major regional powers in teal, and minor regional powers in light teal

Below are states that have been described as regional powers by international relations and political science academics, analysts, or other experts. These states to some extent meet the criteria to have regional power status, as described above. Different experts have differing views on exactly which states are regional powers. States are arranged by their region, and in alphabetic order. Primary, or major, regional powers are placed in the major regions as identified by analysts. Secondary, or minor, regional powers are listed within their subregions.

[edit] Americas

The United States is currently the sole regional power of the Americas (North and South), and is also considered the world's only super power. In Latin America, Brazil and Mexico are currently the only major regional powers. However, some states within the smaller subregions of Latin America, such as the Caribbean and the Southern Cone, are also considered by political analysts as powers in their respective zones.

•  Brazil^[3][4][5][6]
•  Mexico^{[7][8][9][10]}
•  United States^[A][11]

[edit] Southern Cone

•  Argentina^{[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]}

[edit] Caribbean basin

•  Colombia^[19][20]
•  Venezuela^[21][22][23]

[edit] East Asia

•  China^{[A][24][25][26][27][28][29]}
•  Japan^{[A][29][30][31]}
•  South Korea^{[29][32][33][34][35][36]}

[edit] Europe

•  France^{[A][31][37][38]}
•  Germany^{[A][31][38][39]}
•  Italy^[40][41]
•  Russia^{[A][29][31][42]}
•  United Kingdom^{[A][43][44][45]}

[edit] Eastern Europe

•  Poland^[46]
•  Ukraine^[47][48]

[edit] Middle East

•  Iran^{b[49][50][51][52][53]}
•  Israel^{a[49][51][54][55]}
•  Saudi Arabia^{b[49][50][56][57]}
•  Turkey^{a[58][59][60][61][62][63]}

[edit] Oceania

•  Australia^[64][65]

[edit] South Asia

•  India^{[49][50][66][67][68]}
•  Pakistan^[69]

[edit] Southeast Asia

•  Indonesia^[38][70]

[edit] Indochina

•  Thailand^[71]
•  Vietnam^[72]

[edit] Africa

•  South Africa^{[49][38][73][74]}
•  Nigeria^[75][76]
•  Egypt^{a[2][49][77][78]}

[edit] Southern Africa

•  Angola ^[79]

[edit] West Africa

•  Côte d'Ivoire^[80]

•  Ghana^[81]

[edit] East Africa

•  Ethiopia^[82][83]
•  Kenya^[84][85]

[edit] North Africa

•  Algeria ^[86]
•  Egypt^{a[2][49][87][88]}

See also[link]

Footnotes[link]

^a Regional powers in the Levant

^b Regional powers in the Persian Gulf

References[link]

Patrick Abram Seale is a British journalist and author who specialises in the Middle East, as well as a literary agent and art dealer. He is a former correspondent for The Observer and has interviewed many of the Middle East's most prominent leaders and personalities.

Seale is the author of a number of books, including The Struggle for Syria (1965), French Revolution 1968 (1968), Philby, the Long Road to Moscow (1973), The Hilton Assignment (1973), Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East (1988), Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire (1992), and The Struggle for Arab Independence: Riad el-Solh and the Makers of the Modern Middle East (2010). He also ghostwrote Desert Warrior, the 1995 Gulf War memoirs of Saudi prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz.

Background[link]

Seale's father was the Arabist and Theologian Morris S. Seale (1896-1993). He was educated at Balliol and St Antony's College, Oxford, where he specialised in Middle East history. He obtained his D.Litt at Oxford. His journalistic experience includes six years with Reuters, mainly as a financial journalist, and over twelve with The Observer, covering the Middle East, Africa, and India.

Career[link]

Based in France, Seale is syndicated by Agence Global.^[1] His columns appear in most major newspapers around the world, and are carried weekly by several newspapers, including Al-Hayat (London), Al-Ittihad (Abu Dhabi), The Daily Star (Beirut), The Saudi Gazette (Jiddah) and Gulf News (Dubai).

Personal life[link]

Seale is married to Rana Kabbani, the Syrian writer and daughter of former Syrian Ambassador to the United States, Sabah Qabbani. Seale's first wife, Lamorna Heath, had an affair with British novelist Martin Amis during a brief separation in their marriage,^[2] and became pregnant with a daughter, Delilah. Patrick Seale agreed to raise the girl as his own, and did so alone, after his wife, who had suffered from depression, committed suicide when Delilah was two. He told Delilah on her 18th birthday in 1995 that Amis, a writer she was studying for her A-levels, was in fact her biological father.^[3]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• „a candid conversation with Patrick Seale“ on SAST REPORT
• interview broadcast on RFI, 25th July 2009

Pepe Escobar (born 1954) is a journalist based in São Paulo, Brazil. He writes a column entitled The Roving Eye for Asia Times Online and is analyst and correspondent for The Real News Network. His article, 'Get Osama! Now! Or else...', was published by Asia Times Online two weeks before the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001; in it, he claimed that Al Qaeda was in tatters.^[1]

Bibliography[link]

• Escobar, P. 2007, Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War, Nimble Books.
• Escobar, P. 2007, Red Zone Blues: A Snapshot of Baghdad During the Surge, Nimble Books.
• Escobar, P. 2009, Obama Does Globalistan, Nimble Books.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Manning, D. & Cotton, M. 2007, 'Embedded with Power: An interview with Pepe Escobar' (part 1, part 2), Mediabite, no date.
• The Real News Network
• The Roving Eye (Asia Times Online)
• Stories by Pepe Escobar

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