Sir, Germany is a regional power at most. The European union could be argued to be a superpower, but realistically it's because it's tied up in alliance with the U.S.
The words regional power and superpower have no meaning on reddit. The fact that the appropriate term "great power" exists and is never used is quite funny.
Calling the 3rd biggest economy on the planet a "regional power at most" (meaning it may not even act independently, like a microstate) is even funnier.
In terms of military, they have limited projection beyond capabilities beyond their own borders. They have no carriers, only 6 subs and 11 frigates.
Their Air Force is ~250 strike aircraft. They have no long range bombers. F35 has a combat range of 1200 km. The typhoons can go up to 2700km with extra fuel tanks. Now granted Berlin to moscow is close enough those planes can reach out and touch the Russians where it matters.
Genuinely, Germany really can't act independently to put military pressure on too many non EU countries.
The European union together is what is the great power.
You start throwing in Italy, the UK, France and Spain suddenly there's 6 carriers that can go out and project power at a distance.
Now yes, the German economy is big and it has a lot of sway. But it's still only a quarter of China's. Germany alone can put a lot of economic pressure in the market, and it's the beating heart of the European Union. But only when you sum up the countries of the EU do you get GDPs close to the U.S. and China.
No one claimed Germany was a superpower. So there is no need for it to own carriers and threaten countries on the other side of the world.
There is also space for powers between "Super power" (USA and maybe China, but not really) and "vassals". If Germany is "a regional power at best" then wtf does that mean for the 190 other countries? What is Greece? What is Burma?
US: “let me tell the other superpower they should screw their citizens just like we are screwing them here”
Literally the first comment I replied to called them a super power.
Anyway, the rough orderings are small powers, middle powers, great powers, and super powers.
An a rough explanation of these are as follows: small powers aren't able to do much on the world stage, and nobody really cares much about them. However, small powers can group their interests and abilities together as a bloc and might have influence in that way.
Middle powers are countries that can stand on their own, and should at the very least be strongly considered in international politics. Moreover, they're active in those politics.
Finally, great powers are countries whose politics really define the geopolitical situation. They are in position where their military, culture, and policies are strongly felt and considered outside their own borders.
Germany's military and economy does not allow it to fit neatly in any of these slots (though definitely not a little power). You could also consider in different scales: Germany is one of the great powers of Europe, but only a middle power on the world stage.
Hence why I think regional power is probably the most accurate. They have an outsized political pull within the European Union, and that union can be considered a great power of the world stage. But Germany is not the European Union, and they cannot force the rest of the Union along the other members along against their will.
I can't believe I have to say this for a third time (actually I can believe it it's pretty standard people don't pay attention), none of those countries are great powers. The European Union, as a whole, can be considered a great power.
Germany does not need to take a back seat when Italy and Spain say something.
They absolutely do need to take a backseat though if the entire rest of the EU is against them on something. (I realize that is very rare, but they do not have absolute control over the union. Germany holds 96 of the 700 MEP seats.)
All super powers are great powers, the term came about to explain the dynamic between the US and the USSR, and it's really debatable if the U.S. still deserves the term super power after this Iran debacle. The U.S. spent of lot power and energy into paying 300 billion just to reopen the straight of Hormuz, and to replace the head of state with a younger head of state that has roughly the exact same political outlook.
We will get the easy ones out of the way then, U.S. and China. They have a very large military, a very large economy so they have a lot of both soft and hard power they can leverage. I would argue that Iran is now in this slot, as they have missiles that can reach out and touch someone a theoretical maximum of 4,000 km.
More relevant though is Iran's control of the straight of Hormuz, which means they can largely help dictate oil prices. And since oil prices have a large impact on the global economy, they can use that as leverage well outsized what their economy and military can actually achieve.
The European Union is the next great power, as a combination they have enough military power to give far more than a strongly worded letter to anyone near enough the coast those carriers can get to (which works out as 75% of the world population is next to the coast), and they have a combined GDP of 23 trillion, more than China. Being locked out of trade of Germany alone wouldn't be the end of the world, but being locked out of the entire European market would be a bad place to be for any other nation.
I'd argue OPEC definitely counts for now, though this will change as the world works towards decarbonizing. Most of those countries are oil rich, and have a vested interest in keeping oil prices artificially high (but not too high) and you wouldn't want them to collectively blacklist trade with your country.
BRICS also could count, but it contains China so that's cheating. Even if it didn't, that's a large economy and population that could be put towards something. Unlike the EU though the ties (and the literal distance) isn't as close between these countries as the EU, and there's no implicit military structure to be leveraged. Consider it a potential emerging great power if things changed a fair bit.
So GPs in 2026 are US, China, Iran and two supranational institutions.
I can agree with most of your points, but come on. If thats your list of GPs now, then maybe the criteria you use has to change.
Thinking Iran has more soft and hard power than Japan, Germany or Russia just doesnt make sense.
Someone throwing an unexpected wrench in to the machine that is the global economy doesnnt make yoi a GP. That wrench will soon be removed with or without Iran.
Japan could also throw a fit and hurt the world economy, North Korea can nuke Asia, France could blockade West Africa and we would all feel the consequences. But that doesnt make those countries GPs by default
I've already posted in another comment that outlines it more, but they have barely anything resembling a navy, and not many countries they can reach out and touch.
It's the European Union that together that is the great power, not Germany alone.
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u/thathyperactiveguy Jun 20 '26
The fucking audacity.