History Main / AllNationsAreSuperpowers

* The world immediately before the First World War actually resembled this. The entire world was basically divided among a few great powers, and the few remaining places the great powers did not hold ''direct'' control (China, Iran, and Central and South America) they still exercised ''effective'' control via treaties or other methods of influence: Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austria, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, and the United States, with a few smaller empires: the Netherlands, Belgium, and Japan. While that may seem like a long list, consider that there are close to ''two-hundred'' nations in the world today, and the world of 1914 was indeed a world of superpowers.

* The ColdWar: A lot of the non-{{NATO}} and WarsawPact countries did lean to one camp or the other. Cuba's membership of the Non-Aligned Movement meant that the term was meaningless...
** On the Cold War, even many NATO countries would have hesitated in taking part in any direct US offensives. It certainly isn't a fully unified alliance.
* The Security Council is the most powerful body in the UnitedNations. Only its Permanent Members have the power to veto its proposals. The Permanent Members consist solely of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States -- [[TheRestOfTheNuclearClub all of whom are nuclear-armed superpowers]] (specifically, the major powers that were on the Allies in WorldWar2).

* The Security Council is the most powerful body in the UnitedNations. Only its Permanent Members have the power to veto its proposals. The Permanent Members consist solely of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States -- [[TheRestOfTheNuclearClub all of whom are nuclear-armed superpowers]].

* Due to the small number of powerful empires in {{civilization}} type games, most conflicts will be like this.

In any given show where there is some sort of global conflict, or speculative fiction of any kind, there will most often be only 2-4 countries involved, and each will be described as a superpower. Obviously, this isn't historically accurate; the Cold War, for example, was primarily between the US and the Soviet Union, but several other countries had a stake in the outcome (e.g. nations along the Iron Curtain, and places like Korea and Vietnam where communism was making headway). If there are two factions they will fairly often be TheEmpire and TheFederation or TheAlliance or TheRepublic, though usually neither is portrayed as "good" in this setup (ala LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes, or even Gundam), at its most extreme even factions that aren't sovereign nations may be treated with [[NGOSuperpower Superpower level resources]]. Of course, these "superpowers" are frequently HufflepuffHouse.

** A variant is seen in GundamWing, with the Sanc Kingdom. A tiny European monarchy, it has little international importance, but, much like Switzerland, seems to command respect and influence far beyond it's size or military and economic status.
* ''CodeGeass'' has the world initially divided up between the EU, the Chinese Federation and the Holy Brittanian Empire.
** Or maybe not. In maps showing national factions Australia is frequently left blank suggesting neutrality.
*** Japan was said to be neutral in the intro, before it changed it's policy to be in-line with the EU and China. This lead to the initial invasion of Japan and its subjugation as Area 11. Meanwhile, the Middle Eastern Federation kept its independence until 2017 a.t.b., when Cornelia succeeded in defeating the last of its Knightmares, thus establishing Area 18. Several other Areas and territories are mentioned by the three powers, all of which are provinces or states of the "Big Three" of the ''CodeGeass'' world. In season 2, the United Federation of Nations is established from reformed territories in China and what's left of the E.U.

* ''Xam'd Lost Memories'' seems to have things divided up between the Northern Government and Free Colonies.

* A questionable call would be ''{{Planetes}}'', where the notion of the third word nations is plot significant...except that there's really only one nation looked at, and in effect, it's superpower vs. third world as much as it would be in terms of superpower vs. superpower.

* The ColdWar - A lot of the non-{{NATO}} and WarsawPact countries did lean to one camp or the other. Cuba's membership of the Non-Aligned Movement meant that the term was meaningless...
** On the cold war, even many NATO countries would have hesitated in taking part in any direct US offensives, it certainly isn't a fully unified alliance, unlike that which is frequently shown, which are usually as unified as the USA would be today, which is to say that there are dissenting voices, and varying opinions throughout, but they are politically unified under a single leader. Take for instance Yugoslavia, they pretty much split from the soviets quite early, while staying nominally communists, most of the factions were quite superficial. The same occurred with the Chinese too.
** Romania's WarsawPact relationship too wasn't the strongest- they sent athletes to the 1984 Olympics when the others boycotted.
** The Netherlands declined to host Pershing II and Gryphon missiles, IIRC.
** Meanwhile, France (under De Gaulle, natch) dropped out of NATO and developed its own nuclear deterrent (''la force de frappe.'')

* NineteenEightyFour, of course. All the world belongs to the three "superstates," Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. All three are evil, and there's nothing to choose between them politically. Given that Oceania very rapidly switches which one it's fighting against and which one it's allied with, and the similarities between the supposedly opposing political systems, it is implied that the other two may not exist, or at the very least that the war between them is a sham. With the control that Oceania's government has over information, it's impossible to say one way or the other.

** India wasn't ''that'' non-aligned. It has more [=MiGs=] than anywhere else that isn't Russia.
*** The weird thing about the Asian bloc in {{DEFCON}} is that it's a grab-bag of countries that don't play well together: Iran/Iraq/Israel, Japan/China, India/Pakistan and so on.
*** Amusingly, Australia is neutral.[[NukeEm Considering the game]], [[{{Understatement}} probably a good idea.]]

** I'd say FFXII is playing it straight, as it is mentioned that there is a neutral in between power, every so often.
*** Since the two empires do not cover the whole world and unexplored regions still exists, it might be a subversion: the two empires (Archadia and Rozzaria) are so dominant in the region around Dalmasca that they seem to control the whole world, but in FFTADS, they are nothing more than countries outside of the region of Jyland were the story take place.

** Well, it is hinted pretty heavily that both parties have constituent nations (Hence Federation and the proper term for the Empire which includes the term "Alliance"), and it is pretty heavily indicated that while the Federation is even more tightly connected than NATO ever was, it still is technically an alliance rather than a nation, while the Empire is more akin to Austria-Hungary than any fairly monolithic state.

* In ''StargateSG1'', only the most powerful countries are ever shown to know about the Stargate program (most notably Russia, but also France and the United Kingdom). China becomes a major player in later seasons and Stargate Universe as one of the backers of the International Oversight Advisory.
** Not as much the case in ''StargateAtlantis'':
*** Rodney is Canadian.
*** Radek is Czech.
*** There's a recurring extra with a Belgian Flag.
*** Those are all individuals, it's still not known if any nations other than the five permanent members United Nations Security Council know about the Stargate program, though given the fact that the Stargate is hidden under NORAD it's likely the Canadians also know.
*** The Canadians know. In one episode of Atlantis it's mentioned that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service will be helping with a Stargate-related investigation in Canada.
*** ...when the Atlantis outpost is found in Antarctica, it presents problems. The outpost contains weapons. The United States is a signatory of the Antarctic Treaty, which bans all weapons from the continent. This forces the US to notify all 46 signatories of the Treaty. That is why the Atlantis expedition is multinational.
*** Of course considering that the U.S government is willing to order Stargate covert ops that border on illegal (and sometimes cross the border) you really have to wonder why they would bother to notify anyone that there were weapons in the Antarctic, especially when the U.S didn't put them there to begin with.
**** That one actually could be interpreted as FridgeBrilliance, because in the Atlantis finale, it is shown that the US now transported the ancient chair to US soil because weapons weren't allowed on Antartica. Since no nation would be insane enough to pressure the US in taking full control of the most powerful weapon on earth instead of having it on international territory, this could be interpreted as the US announcing enforcing the pact themselves, getting full control.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* NineteenEightyFour, of course. All the world belongs to the three "superstates," Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. All three are evil, and there's nothing to choose between them politically.
** Their existence is debatable though. Given the control Oceania has over information, the other two may not even exist, giving the possibility that either Oceania is the sole ruler of the world, and the war and the idea of the other superpowers is a fabrication in order to control the populace, Oceania may only include Britain, and the rest of the world is doing its own thing, or some other possibility.
* The post-WW2 world in Sterling's [[TheDraka Draka-verse]] is divided between the American-led [[TheAlliance Alliance for Democracy]] and [[TheEmpire the Domination of Draka]].

** On the cold war, even many Nato countries would have hesitated in taking part in any direct US offensives, it certainly isn't a fully unified alliance, unlike that which is frequently shown, which are usually as unified as the USA would be today, which is to say that there are dissenting voices, and varying opinions throughout, but they are politically unified under a single leader. Take for instance Yugoslavia, they pretty much split from the soviets quite early, while staying nominally communists, most of the factions were quite superficial. The same occurred with the Chinese too.

** Meanwhile, France (under De Gaulle, natch) dropped out of Nato and developed its own nuclear deterrent (''la force de frappe.'')

* A variant is seen in GundamWing, with the Sanc Kingdom. A tiny European monarchy, it has little international importance, but, much like Switzerland, seems to command respect and influence far beyond it's size or military and economic status.

In any given show where there is some sort of global conflict, or speculative fiction of any kind, there will most often be only 2-4 countries involved, and each will be described as a superpower. Obviously, this isn't historically accurate; the Cold War, for example, was primarily between the US and the Soviet Union, but several other countries had a stake in the outcome (e.g. nations along the Iron Curtain, and places like Korea and Vietnam where communism was making headway). If there are two factions they will fairly often be TheEmpire and TheFederation or TheAlliance, though usually neither is portrayed as "good" in this setup (ala LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes, or even Gundam), at its most extreme even factions that aren't sovereign nations may be treated with [[NGOSuperpower Superpower level resources]]. Of course, these "superpowers" are frequently HufflepuffHouse.

* ''CodeGeass'' has the world initially divided up between the EU, Chinese confederation and Holy Brittanian Empire.

*** Japan was said to be neutral in the intro, before it changed it's policy to be in-line with the EU and China. This lead to the initial invasion of Japan and its subjugation as Area 11. Meanwhile, the Middle Eastern Federation kept its independence until 2017 a.t.b., when Cornelia succeeded in defeating the last of its Knightmares, thus establishing Area 18. Several other Areas and territories are mentioned by the three powers, all of which are provinces or states of the "Big Three" of the ''CodeGeass'' world. In season 2, the United Federation of Nations is established from the reformed territories in China and what's left of the E.U.

* In ''StargateSG1'', only the most powerful countries are ever shown to know about the Stargate program (Most notably Russia, but also France and the United Kingdom) China becomes a major player in later seasons and Stargate Universe as one of the backers of the International Oversight Advisory.

*** Amusingly,Australia is neutral.[[NukeEm Considering the game,]] [[{{Understatement}} probably a good idea.]]

In any given show where there is some sort of global conflict, or speculative fiction of any kind, there will most often be only 2-4 countries involved, and each will be described as a superpower. Obviously, this isn't historically accurate; the Cold War, for example, was primarily between the US and the Soviet Union, but several other countries had a stake in the outcome. If there are two factions they will fairly often be TheEmpire and TheFederation or TheAlliance, though usually neither is portrayed as "good" in this setup (ala LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes, or even Gundam), at its most extreme even factions that aren't sovereign nations may be treated with [[NGOSuperpower Superpower level resources]]. Of course, these "superpowers" are frequently HufflepuffHouse.

* The Security Council is the most powerful body in the UnitedNations. Only its Permanent Members have the power to veto its proposals. The Permanent Members consist solely of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States -- all of whom are nuclear-armed superpowers.

* The Security Council is the most powerful body in the UnitedNations. Only its Permanent Members have the power to veto its proposals. The Permanent Members consist of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States -- all of whome are nuclear-armed superpowers.

* The Security Council is the most powerful body in the UnitedNations. Only its Permanent Members have to power to veto its proposals. The Permanent Members consist of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States -- all of whome are nuclear-armed superpowers.

* The Security Council is the most powerful body in the United Nations. Only its Permanent Members have to power to veto its proposals. The Permanent Members consist of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States -- all of whome are nuclear-armed superpowers.

** Meanwhile, France (under De Gaulle, natch) dropped out of Nato and developed its own nuclear deterrent (''la force de frappe.'')

* The ColdWar - A lot of the non-{{NATO}} and WarsawPact countries did lean to one camp or the other. Cuba's membership of the Non-Aligned Movement meant that the term was meaningless...
** On the cold war, even many Nato countries would have hesitated in taking part in any direct US offensives, it certainly isn't a fully unified alliance, unlike that which is frequently shown, which are usually as unified as the USA would be today, which is to say that there are dissenting voices, and varying opinions throughout, but they are politically unified under a single leader. Take for instance Yugoslavia, they pretty much split from the soviets quite early, while staying nominally communists, most of the factions were quite superficial. The same occurred with the Chinese too.
** Romania's WarsawPact relationship too wasn't the strongest- they sent athletes to the 1984 Olympics when the others boycotted.
** The Netherlands declined to host Pershing II and Gryphon missiles, IIRC.
** Meanwhile, France (under De Gaulle, natch) dropped out of Nato and developed its own nuclear deterrent (''la force de frappe.'')

In any given show where there is some sort of global conflict, or speculative fiction of any kind, there will most often be only 2-4 countries involved, and each will be described as a superpower. Obviously, this isn't historically accurate; the Cold War, for example, was primarily between the US and the Soviet Union, but several other countries had a stake in the outcome. If there are two factions they will fairly often be TheEmpire and TheAlliance, though usually neither is portrayed as "good" in this setup (ala LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes, or even Gundam), at its most extreme even factions that aren't soveriegn nations may be treated with [[NGOSuperpower Superpower level resources]]. Of course, these "superpowers" are frequently HufflepuffHouse.

* The ColdWar- A lot of the non-{{NATO}} and WarsawPact countries did lean to one camp or the other. Cuba's membership of the Non-Aligned Movement meant that the term was meaningless...

*** Japan was said to be neutral in the intro, before it changed it's policy to be in-line with the EU and China. This lead to the initial invasion of Japan and its subjugation as Area 11. Meanwhile, the Middle Eastern Federation kept its independence until 2017 a.t.b., when Cornelia succeeded in defeating the last of its Knightmares, thus establishing Area 18. Several other Areas and territories are mentioned by the three powers, all of which are provinces or states of the "Big Three" of the "CodeGeass" world. In season 2, the United Federation of Nations is established from the reformed territories in China and what's left of the E.U.

In any given show where there is some sort of global conflict, or speculative fiction of any kind, there will most often be only 2-4 countries involved, and each will be described as a superpower. Obviously, this isn't historically accurate; the Cold War, for example, was primarily between the US and the Soviet Union, but several other countries had a stake in the outcome. If there are two factions they will fairly often be TheEmpire and TheAlliance, though usually neither is portrayed as "good" in this setup (ala LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes, or even Gundam). Of course, these "superpowers" are frequently HufflepuffHouse.

* In ''StargateSG1'', only the most powerful countries are ever shown to know about the Stargate program (Most notably Russia, but also France, [[strike:England]] United Kingdom) China becomes a major player in later seasons and Stargate Universe as one of the backers of the International Oversight Advisory.