anzha's Journal: Hyperpowerhood - pah!

This term is starting to get annoying. It was bad enough with the poor definitions of 'superpower' and 'Great Power'! Now we have to add another one?

Mein Gott! Die Amerikaner sind die einzigen noch stehend! Wir müssen ihnen einen neuen Aufkleber geben!

This is absolute silliness. While our growth as a power has increased American capabilities, it is far from the terrifying threat and menace that some people in the world are making us out to be.

We toppled two uber weak nations in two years. OoOoo! So scary! And in doing so, over overstretched the army to the point where short of a major attack on the US, we're not terribly scary to anyone (re NK's and Iran's behaviour post IRaq. They're NOT scared of us).

Perhaps then, this whole hyperpowerhood naming is because the nations that have labeled us so have just realized how far they have fallen and want to say we've grown out of control instead of them shrinking so far from what they were?

Personally, I don't believe it. I just cannot, looking at what we have done and knowing what we are capable of doing, accept that we have suddenly become the powered armor equipped 900 lbs gorilla that we're being portrayed.

What does it take to be a 'hyperpower'? I have a few ideas, but they take some fleshing out before I'd say outloud...what do all of you think?