THE END OF GREAT POWERS

Full-spectrum analysis of a state's economy, technology, leadership, society and alliances could be a superior way of predicting battlefield performance

- WORDS LOUIS HARDIMAN

From September 1814 to June 1815, representatives of Austria, Prussia, Russia and Great Britain met at the Congress of Vienna.

These were the self-proclaimed 'great powers' that would restore balance to Europe. In their sights was the upstart Napoleon, who had persuaded French forces to return to him en masse after his escape from exile. The great powers declared Napoleon an outlaw on 13 March and later pulled him from his throne during the Waterloo Campaign. Our understanding of great powers stems from this coalition – states that can exert influence on a global scale through military dominance over lesser powers.

However, historian and St Andrews University professor of Strategic Studies Phillips Payson O'Brien argues that great powers have never existed. “The ‘great powers’ idea is far too militarily focused. If you have a big army, you’re a great power. Yet a military doesn’t exist in and of itself,” he tells History of War. Instead, O’Brien proposes “full-spectrum powers” – a way of understanding a nation’s ability to wage war through its economic and technological capabilities alongside its leadership, society and alliances. Militaries become the products of power rather than the power itself.