IB Geography • HL4.1
Global Interactions & Global Power
Measuring globalisation, mapping changing power and evaluating states, institutions and emerging groupings.
How global power and influence vary spatially
What is actually becoming connected?
Globalisation is economic, social and political—and connections can be measured as actual flows or enabling conditions.
The KOF Globalisation Index separates de facto interactions from de jure policies and conditions. It is useful for comparison, but national rankings hide internal variation and depend on indicator choice, weighting and time lag.
Enquiry 1 — Build and test an index
Propose indicators for economic, social and political globalisation, sort them into de facto and de jure measures, then compare three contrasting states using KOF. Finish with a judgement on the index’s usefulness and limitations.
What makes a state powerful?
Power combines economic, military, diplomatic, technological, demographic and cultural reach.
Hard power uses coercion or payment; soft power relies on attraction and legitimacy; smart power combines instruments. A superpower has wide reach across several dimensions, not merely one large economy or military.
Enquiry 2 — Power audit
Select one measurable indicator for six dimensions of power and record each indicator’s limitation. Rank the dimensions, then explain how a state may convert one form of power into another.
United States and China
The geographical question is where each state exercises influence, through which networks and in which dimensions.
Broad networked reach
Military alliances, the dollar and financial institutions, technology firms, universities, media and diplomacy sustain unusually broad influence.
Expanding connected power
Economic scale, trade, infrastructure finance, manufacturing networks, technology and diplomatic reach underpin China’s changing global influence.
Enquiry 3 — Evidence matrix
Compare both states across economic, military, diplomatic, technological and cultural power. Map where each has strongest influence and evaluate: “China has replaced the United States as the world’s leading superpower.” [12]
Who else has global power?
International organisations and groupings organise finance, rules, resources and diplomacy across state borders.
Compare the UN, World Bank, IMF, G20, OECD, OPEC and BRICS/New Development Bank. Membership, voting structures, finance and agenda-setting determine whose interests are amplified.
HL synthesis — Power stations
For each institution, record membership, mechanism of influence, spatial reach, beneficiaries and one criticism. Then answer: “Global power increasingly lies with networks rather than individual states.” Discuss. [12]