Middle power

{{Distinguish|Middle Kingdom (disambiguation){{!}}Middle Kingdom|Central Powers}}

File:Cumbre de Washington.jpg countries and others present at the 2008 G-20 Washington summit. Most members of the G20 are middle powers, while some are great powers.]]{{forms of government}}

A middle power is a state that is not a superpower or a great power, but still exerts influence and plays a significant role in international relations. These countries often possess certain capabilities, such as strong economies, advanced technologies, and diplomatic influence, that allow them to have a voice in global affairs. Middle powers are typically seen as bridge-builders between larger powers, using their diplomatic skills to mediate conflicts and promote cooperation on international issues.{{cite journal | last=Jordaan | first=Eduard | title=The concept of a middle power in international relations: distinguishing between emerging and traditional middle powers | journal=Politikon | volume=30 | issue=1 | date=2003 | issn=0258-9346 | doi=10.1080/0258934032000147282 | pages=165–181| url=https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/394 }}

Middle powers play a crucial role in the international system by promoting multilateralism, cooperation, and peaceful resolution of conflicts. They are able to leverage their resources and diplomatic skills to advance their national interests while also contributing to global stability and prosperity. As such, middle powers are an important and often overlooked factor in the complex web of international relations.{{cite book | last=Laurence | first=Marion | title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies | chapter=Middle Powers | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=October 18, 2023 | isbn=978-0-19-084662-6 | doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190846626.013.783 | page=}}

The concept of the "middle power" dates back to the origins of the European state system. In the late 16th century, Italian political thinker Giovanni Botero divided the world into three types of states: grandissime (great powers), mezano (middle powers), and piccioli (small powers). According to Botero, a mezano or middle power "has sufficient strength and authority to stand on its own without the need of help from others."Rudd K (2006) [http://eherald.alp.org.au/articles/0906/natp28-01.php Making Australia a force for good], Labor eHerald {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070627041402/http://eherald.alp.org.au/articles/0906/natp28-01.php|date=27 June 2007|df=y }}

History and definition

No agreed standard method defines which states are middle powers, aside from the broad idea that middle powers are states that have a 'moderate' ability to influence the behaviour of other states, in contrast to small power, which have 'little' ability to influence. Some researchers use Gross National Product (GNP) statistics to draw lists of middle powers around the world. Economically, middle powers are generally those that are not considered too "big" or too "small", however that is defined. However, economy is not always the defining factor. Under the original sense of the term, a middle power was one that had some degree of influence globally, but did not dominate in any one area. However, this usage is not universal, and some define middle power to include nations that can be regarded as regional powers.

According to academics at the University of Leicester and University of Nottingham:

Middle power status is usually identified in one of two ways. The traditional and most common way is to aggregate critical physical and material criteria to rank states according to their relative capabilities. Because countries' capabilities differ, they are categorized as superpowers (or great powers), middle powers or small powers. More recently, it is possible to discern a second method for identifying middle power status by focusing on behavioural attributes. This posits that middle powers can be distinguished from superpowers and smaller powers because of their foreign policy behaviour – middle powers carve out a niche for themselves by pursuing a narrow range and particular types of foreign policy interests. In this way middle powers are countries that use their relative diplomatic skills in the service of international peace and stability.{{Cite journal |last1=Hamill |first1=James |last2=Lee |first2=Donna |date=April 2001 |title=A Middle Power Paradox? South African Diplomacy in the Post-apartheid Era |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/004711701015004004 |journal=International Relations |language=en |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=33–59 |doi=10.1177/004711701015004004 |s2cid=144967878 |issn=0047-1178|url-access=subscription }}

According to Eduard Jordaan of Singapore Management University:

All middle powers display foreign policy behaviour that stabilises and legitimises the global order, typically through multilateral and cooperative initiatives. However, emerging and traditional middle powers can be distinguished in terms of their mutually-influencing constitutive and behavioural differences. Constitutively, traditional middle powers are wealthy, stable, egalitarian, social democratic and not regionally influential. Behaviourally, they exhibit a weak and ambivalent regional orientation, constructing identities distinct from powerful states in their regions and offer appeasing concessions to pressures for global reform. Emerging middle powers by contrast are semi-peripheral, materially inegalitarian and recently democratised states that demonstrate much regional influence and self-association. Behaviourally, they opt for reformist and not radical global change, exhibit a strong regional orientation favouring regional integration but seek also to construct identities distinct from those of the weak states in their region.

Another definition, by the Middle Powers Initiative (MPI), a program of the Global Security Institute, is that "middle power countries are politically and economically significant, internationally respected countries that have renounced the nuclear arms race, a standing that give them significant international credibility."Middle Powers Initiative (2004) [http://www.gsinstitute.org/mpi/pubs/buildingbridges_0404.pdf Building Bridges: What Middle Power Countries Should Do To Strengthen the NPT] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614193537/http://www.gsinstitute.org/mpi/pubs/buildingbridges_0404.pdf |date=14 June 2007 }}, GSI Under this definition however, nuclear-armed states like India and Pakistan, and every state participant of the NATO nuclear sharing, would not be middle powers.

=Middle power diplomacy=

According to Laura Neak of the International Studies Association:

Although there is some conceptual ambiguity surrounding the term middle power, middle powers are identified most often by their international behavior–called 'middle power diplomacy'—the tendency to pursue multilateral solutions to international problems, the tendency to embrace compromise positions in international disputes, and the tendency to embrace notions of 'good international citizenship' to guide...diplomacy. Middle powers are states who commit their relative affluence, managerial skills, and international prestige to the preservation of the international order and peace. Middle powers help to maintain the international order through coalition-building, by serving as mediators and "go-betweens," and through international conflict management and resolution activities, such as UN peacekeeping. Middle powers perform these internationalist activities because of an idealistic imperative they associate with being a middle power. The imperative is that the middle powers have a moral responsibility and collective ability to protect the international order from those who would threaten it, including, at times, the great or principal powers. This imperative was particularly profound during the most intense periods of the Cold War.Bishai LS (2000) [http://www.ciaonet.org/isa/nal01/ From Recognition to Intervention: The Shift from Traditional to Liberal International Law] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020228031316/http://www.ciaonet.org/isa/nal01/|date=28 February 2002|df=y }}

According to international relations scholar Annette Baker Fox, relationships between middle powers and great powers reveal more intricate behaviors and bargaining schemes than has often been assumed.Fox, Annette Baker, The Politics of Attraction: Four Middle Powers and the United States (Columbia University Press, 1977). According to Soeya Yoshihide, "Middle Power does not just mean a state's size or military or economic power. Rather, 'middle power diplomacy' is defined by the issue area where a state invests its resources and knowledge. The Middle Power States avoid a direct confrontation with great powers, but they see themselves as 'moral actors' and seek their own role in particular issue areas, such as human rights, environment, and arms regulations. Middle powers are the driving force in the process of transnational institutional-building."{{cite web|last=Yoshihide|first=Soeya|title=Middle Power Diplomacy|url=http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/tiberg/Poli%20322-2006-Middle%20Power%20Diplomacy.rtf|access-date=18 May 2007}}{{dead link|date=August 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} At the same time, scholars have identified relations of antagonism and competition between middle powers, as well as their ability to use soft power to attain their goals, as in the case of Egypt-Israeli rivalry in Africa.{{Cite journal |last1=Siniver |first1=Asaf |last2=Tsourapas |first2=Gerasimos |date=2023 |title=Middle Powers and Soft-Power Rivalry: Egyptian–Israeli Competition in Africa |journal=Foreign Policy Analysis |volume=19 |issue=2 |doi=10.1093/fpa/orac041 |issn=1743-8586|doi-access=free }}

Characteristics of middle power diplomacy include:

Commitment to multilateralism through global institutions and allying with other middle powers.{{cite book|author1=Patrick James|author2=Mark J. Kasoff|title=Canadian studies in the new millennium|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_LHcv89nW4C&pg=PA265|year=2008|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-9468-1|page=265|access-date=24 February 2016}}
High degree of civil society penetration in the country's foreign policy.
A country that reflects and forms its national identity through a 'novel foreign policy': Peacekeeping, Human Security, the International Criminal Court, and the Kyoto Protocol

The Middle Powers Initiative highlights the importance of middle powers diplomacy. Through MPI, eight international non-governmental organizations are able to work primarily with middle power governments to encourage and educate the nuclear weapons states to take immediate practical steps that reduce nuclear dangers, and commence negotiations to eliminate nuclear weapons. Middle power countries are particularly influential in issues related to arms control, being that they are politically and economically significant, internationally respected countries that have renounced the nuclear arms race, a standing that gives them significant political credibility.

=Self-defined by states=

The term first entered Canadian political discourse after World War II. Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent, for example, called Canada "a power of the middle rank" and helped to lay out the classical definition of Canadian middle power diplomacy. When he was advocating for Canada's election to the United Nations Security Council, he said that while "...the special nature of [Canada's] relationship to the United Kingdom and the United States complicates our responsibilities," Canada was not a "satellite" of either but would "continue to make our decisions objectively, in the light of our obligations to our own people and their interest in the welfare of the international community."H.H. Herstien, L.J. Hughes, R.C. Kirbyson. Challenge & Survival: The History of Canada (Scarborough, ON: Prentice-Hall, 1970). p 411 Canadian leaders believed Canada was a middle power because it was a junior partner in larger alliances (e.g. NATO, NORAD), was actively involved in resolving disputes outside its own region (e.g. Suez Crisis), was not a former colonial power and therefore neutral in anti-colonial struggles, worked actively in the United Nations to represent the interests of smaller nations and to prevent the dominance of the superpowers (often being elected to the United Nations Security Council for such reasons), and because it was involved in humanitarian and peacekeeping efforts around the world.

In March 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd defined his country's foreign policy as one of "middle power diplomacy" along the lines of similar criteria. Australia would "influence international decision-makers" on issues such as "global economic, security and environmental challenges."Shanahan D (2008) [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23437898-2702,00.html Time to go global, urges Rudd] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517072447/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23437898-2702,00.html |date=17 May 2008 }}, The Australian

= Significance in the 21st century =

American political analyst Cliff Kupchan describes middle powers as "countries with significant leverage in geopolitics" but that are "less powerful than the world’s two superpowers—the United States and China."{{Cite web |last=Kupchan |first=Cliff |date=2023-06-06 |title=6 Swing States Will Decide the Future of Geopolitics |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/06/06/geopolitics-global-south-middle-powers-swing-states-india-brazil-turkey-indonesia-saudi-arabia-south-africa/ |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=Foreign Policy |language=en-US}} Nevertheless, Kupchan argues that middle powers—particularly in the Global South—have more power, agency, and "geopolitical heft" in the 21st century (namely the 2020s) than at any time since the Second World War. He identifies Brazil, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Turkey as leading middle powers and describes them as "swing states" that are capable of creating new power dynamics due to their nonalignment with most great powers. Among the shared characteristics of these six nations are membership in the G20; large and fast-growing economies; and active diplomatic involvement in major events, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and international climate action.

Kupchan attributes the emergence of stronger middle powers to several historical developments in the international system, including the weaker bipolarity between the U.S. and China (as opposed to the stricter allegiances of the Cold War and the subsequent U.S. hegemony following the collapse of the Soviet Union) and the gradual trend of deglobalization, which has fostered regionalized geopolitical and geoeconomic relationships wherein middle powers have comparatively greater influence; for example, the fragmenting of the international energy market has purportedly given Saudi Arabia, a major energy exporter, far more weight in now-smaller regional markets. Kupchan also notes the ability of these middle powers to capitalize on rivalries between the major powers in order to further their own influence, interests, or foreign policy initiatives.

Overlaps between great powers and middle powers

The overlaps between the lists of middle powers and great powers show that there is no unanimous agreement among authorities.Mehmet Ozkan. "A NEW APPROACH TO GLOBAL SECURITY: PIVOTAL MIDDLE POWERS AND GLOBAL POLITICS" Perceptions: Journal of International Affairs XI.1 (2006): 77–95

Nations including China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States are generally considered to be great powers due to their economic, military or strategic importance, their status as recognized nuclear powers and their permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council. Academics also commonly cite Germany, India and Japan as great powers, due to their large, advanced economies and global influence rather than military and strategic capabilities;{{cite encyclopedia|title=Encarta – The Great Powers|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761590309/Great_Powers.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040520192843/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761590309/Great_Powers.html|archive-date=20 May 2004|url-status=dead}} yet some sources have at times referred to these nations as middle powers.P. Shearman, M. Sussex, [https://books.google.com/books?id=T55xTVQq4IIC European Security After 9/11] (Ashgate, 2004) – According to Shearman and Sussex, both the UK and France were great powers now reduced to middle power status.Soeya Yoshihide, 'Diplomacy for Japan as a Middle Power, Japan Echo, Vol. 35, No. 2 (2008), pp. 36–41.

Some in the field of international relations, such as John Kirton and Roberto Gimeno claim that Italy is a great power due to its status and membership in the G7 and NATO Quint.Roberto Gimeno & Atelier de cartographie de Sciences Po, "La Russie et les grandes puissances (G8 et Chine)" [http://cartographie.sciences-po.fr/sites/default/files/17_2_g8etchine_droite.jpg Russia and the Great Powers (G8 and China)], chart], Questions Internationales, No. 27 (septembre–octobre, 2007)

{{Cite web|url=http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/scholar/kirton198901/kcon1.htm|title=The Seven-Power Summit as an International Concert|website=g8.utoronto.ca}} Moreover, according to a 2014 report by the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS), Italy is listed among the great powers.{{Cite web |url=http://www.hcss.nl/reports/why-are-pivot-states-so-pivotal-the-role-of-pivot-states-in-regional-and-global-security/150/ |title=Why are Pivot states so Pivotal? |access-date=24 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211162346/http://www.hcss.nl/reports/why-are-pivot-states-so-pivotal-the-role-of-pivot-states-in-regional-and-global-security/150/ |archive-date=11 February 2016 |url-status=dead }} Although broad academic support for India as a great power is uncommon, some in the field of political science, such as Malik Mohan and Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, consider India to be a great power as well.[https://archive.org/details/strategicvisiona0000brze Strategic Vision: America & the Crisis of Global Power] by Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, pp 43–45. Published 2012.{{cite book|last1=Malik|first1=Mohan|title=China and India: Great Power Rivals|date=2011|publisher=FirstForumPress|location=United States|isbn=978-1935049418}} Likewise, Brazil is sometimes referred as a great power due to its economic power and influence,{{cite book|author=Kwang Ho Chun|title=The BRICs Superpower Challenge: Foreign and Security Policy Analysis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LgDJNAEACAAJ|access-date=21 September 2015|year=2013|publisher=Ashgate|isbn=978-1-4094-6869-1}}Heine J (2006) [http://se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=PublishingHouse&fileid=EBFD6763-36B0-7571-5B36-97F6502F60DC&lng=en On the Manner of Practising the New Diplomacy], ISN {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007112321/http://se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=PublishingHouse&fileid=EBFD6763-36B0-7571-5B36-97F6502F60DC&lng=en|date=7 October 2007|df=y }} with Italy at times being considered a great power due to these factors as well as its cultural power.

The following eight countries have at some point in the post–Cold War era been considered great powers but also middle powers by academics or other experts:

{{flagcountry|Brazil|size=23px}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ibsanews.com/pt/eeuu-eespecialistas-reclamam-reconhecimento-do-brasil-como-potecircncia-mundial/ |title=Especialistas reclamam reconhecimento do Brasil como potência mundial. |publisher=IBS News|date=15 June 2011 |access-date=7 April 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.dci.com.br/pela-primeira-vez-brasil-emerge-como-potencia-internacional,-diz-patriota-id293466.html |title=Pela primeira vez Brasil emerge como potência internacional, diz Patriota |date=10 May 2012 |access-date=7 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607101653/http://www.dci.com.br/pela-primeira-vez-brasil-emerge-como-potencia-internacional,-diz-patriota-id293466.html |archive-date=7 June 2012 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201109150218.html |title=Brazil – Emerging Soft Power of the World. |publisher=allAfrica.com |date=15 September 2011 |access-date=7 April 2017}}{{cite news |url=http://www.sidneyrezende.com/noticia/143872+brasil+ganha+dos+estados+unidos+em+influencia+na+america+do+sul |title=Brasil ganha dos Estados Unidos em influência na América do Sul |newspaper=The Economist |date=2 September 2011 |access-date=7 April 2017 |archive-date=20 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820232230/http://www2.sidneyrezende.com/noticia/143872+brasil+ganha+dos+estados+unidos+em+influencia+na+america+do+sul |url-status=dead }}
{{flagcountry|France|size=23px}}{{Cite book|author=Éric-André Martin and Marie Krpata|date=October 2021|title=The Dilemma of Middle Powers: How AUKUS Has Reshaped the Potential for E3 Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific|url=https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/martin_krpata_aukus_e3_cooperation_indopacific_2021.pdf|publisher=Ifri, Notes du Cerfa|language=en|page=20|volume=166|quote= Countries such as Canada, Australia, South Korea, Japan, India and European powers like the UK, Germany and France can be considered as middle powers.|access-date=8 January 2022|isbn=979-10-373-0432-2}}
{{flagcountry|Germany|size=23px}}Otte M, Greve J (2000) [https://books.google.com/books?id=rqoJL6yuSqwC A Rising Middle Power?: German Foreign Policy in Transformation, 1989–1999], St. Martin's Press{{cite journal|journal=British Journal of Political Science|title=Neither Hegemony nor Dominance: Reconsidering German Power in Post Cold-War Europe|author=Sperling, James|year=2001|doi=10.1017/S0007123401000151|volume=31|issue=2|pages=389–425}}
{{flagcountry|India|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} India|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/india/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en|quote="The next tier of regional powers — Japan and India — have each lost more ground in 2021 than did China. Both countries have fallen just short of the major power threshold of 40 points in 2021... One result of greater bipolarity is that US allies, such as Japan and Australia, and even key balancing powers, such as India, have never been more dependent on American capacity and willingness to sustain a military balance of power in the region."}}Charalampos Efstathopoulosa, 'Reinterpreting India's Rise through the Middle Power Prism', Asian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 19, Issue 1 (2011), p. 75: 'India's role in the contemporary world order can be optimally asserted by the middle power concept. The concept allows for distinguishing both strengths and weakness of India's globalist agency, shifting the analytical focus beyond material-statistical calculations to theorise behavioural, normative and ideational parameters.'Robert W. Bradnock, India's Foreign Policy since 1971 (The Royal Institute for International Affairs, London: Pinter Publishers, 1990), quoted in Leonard Stone, 'India and the Central Eurasian Space', Journal of Third World Studies, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2007, p. 183: 'The U.S. is a superpower whereas India is a middle power. A superpower could accommodate another superpower because the alternative would be equally devastating to both. But the relationship between a superpower and a middle power is of a different kind. The former does not need to accommodate the latter while the latter cannot allow itself to be a satellite of the former."Jan Cartwright, 'India's Regional and International Support for Democracy: Rhetoric or Reality?', Asian Survey, Vol. 49, No. 3 (May/June 2009), p. 424: 'India's democratic rhetoric has also helped it further establish its claim as being a rising "middle power." (A "middle power" is a term that is used in the field of international relations to describe a state that is not a superpower but still wields substantial influence globally. In addition to India, other "middle powers" include, for example, Australia and Canada.)'
{{flagcountry|Italy|size=23px}}"Operation Alba may be considered one of the most important instances in which Italy has acted as a regional power, taking the lead in executing a technically and politically coherent and determined strategy." See Federiga Bindi, Italy and the European Union (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2011), p. 171."Italy plays a prominent role in European and global military, cultural and diplomatic affairs. The country's European political, social and economic influence make it a major regional power." See Italy: Justice System and National Police Handbook, Vol. 1 (Washington, D.C.: International Business Publications, 2009), p. 9.{{Cite journal|author=Marco Siddi|date=October 2018|title=Italy's 'Middle Power' Approach to Russia|url= https://doi.org/10.1080/03932729.2018.1519765|journal=The International Spectator: Italian Journal of International Affairs|language=en|quote=The definition of 'middle power' is contested and has been the subject of controversy among scholars. According to the Italian interpretation of this concept, Italy is a middle-ranking power with limited natural and military resources and one that can only achieve its foreign policy goals by expanding its influence in international organisations and through bilateral relations with larger powers.|volume=54|issue=2|pages=123–138|doi=10.1080/03932729.2018.1519765|s2cid=158301312|issn=0393-2729|url-access=subscription}}
{{flagcountry|Japan|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} Japan|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/Japan/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en|quote="The next tier of regional powers — Japan and India — have each lost more ground in 2021 than did China. Both countries have fallen just short of the major power threshold of 40 points in 2021... One result of greater bipolarity is that US allies, such as Japan and Australia, and even key balancing powers, such as India, have never been more dependent on American capacity and willingness to sustain a military balance of power in the region."}}Robert W. Cox, 'Middlepowermanship, Japan, and Future World Order, International Journal, Vol. 44, No. 4 (1989), pp. 823–862.
{{flagcountry|Russia|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} Russia|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/russia/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en}}{{cite journal|first=Iver B.|last=Neumann|title=Russia as a great power, 1815–2007|journal=Journal of International Relations and Development|year=2008|volume=11|issue=2|pages=128–151 [p. 128]|quote=As long as Russia's rationality of government deviates from present-day hegemonic neo-liberal models by favouring direct state rule rather than indirect governance, the West will not recognize Russia as a fully fledged great power.|doi=10.1057/jird.2008.7 |doi-access=free}}
{{flagcountry|United Kingdom|size=23px}}{{cite journal|last1=Chalmers|first1=Malcolm|title=A Force for Order: Strategic Underpinnings of the Next NSS and SDSR|journal=Royal United Services Institute|date=May 2015|volume=Briefing Paper|issue=SDSR 2015: Hard Choices Ahead|page=2|quote="While no longer a superpower (a position it lost in the 1940s), the UK remains much more than a 'middle power'."}}

The United States From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776 (Published 2008), by Professor George C. Herring (Professor of History at Kentucky University){{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} US|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/united-states/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en|quote= The United States beat the regional downward trend, gaining points in five Index measures, and overtaking China in two critical rankings: for diplomatic Influence and future resources. But its gains are dogged by a rapid loss of economic influence.}} and China{{cite web|last=Muldavin|first=Joshua|date=9 February 2006|title=From Rural Transformation to Global Integration: The Environmental and Social Impacts of China's Rise to Superpower|url=http://www.carnegieendowment.org/events/index.cfm?fa=eventDetail&id=851&prog=zch|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514102913/http://www.carnegieendowment.org/events/index.cfm?fa=eventDetail&id=851&prog=zch|archive-date=14 May 2011|access-date=17 January 2010|publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace}}{{cite news|date=19 October 2012|title=A Point Of View: What kind of superpower could China be?|publisher=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19995218|access-date=21 October 2012}}{{cite web|date=13 November 2007|title=China as a global power|url=http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=848|access-date=27 August 2010|publisher=China.usc.edu}}{{Cite journal |last=Miura |first=Kacie |date=2024-03-04 |title=China after Mao: the rise of a superpower |url=https://academic.oup.com/ia/article-abstract/100/2/883/7617199?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=International Affairs |volume=100 |issue=2 |pages=883–885 |doi=10.1093/ia/iiae025 |issn=0020-5850|doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal |last=Lees |first=Francis A. |date=1997 |title=China Superpower |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230371699 |journal=SpringerLink |language=en |doi=10.1057/9780230371699|url-access=subscription }} are considered by many scholars to exceed the traditional criterion of great power, or instead to be superpowers, and are therefore not listed.{{Cite web|last=Yu|first=Katrina|title=China-US: Relations fray between the two superpowers|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/china-us-relations-fray-superpowers-200717183321246.html|access-date=21 September 2020|website=aljazeera.com|archive-date=18 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918080259/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/china-us-relations-fray-superpowers-200717183321246.html|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|title=Five big takeaways from the 2019 Asia Power Index|url=https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/power-shifts-fevered-times-2019-asia-power-index|access-date=9 July 2020|website=lowyinstitute.org|language=en|archive-date=24 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724203232/https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/power-shifts-fevered-times-2019-asia-power-index|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2020-07-14 |title=Many Germans believe China will replace US as superpower: survey {{!}} DW {{!}} 14 July 2020 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-china-us-superpower/a-54173383 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250127194031/https://www.dw.com/en/germany-china-us-superpower/a-54173383 |archive-date=2025-01-27 |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=DW.COM |language=en-GB}}{{Cite book|author=Éric-André Martin and Marie Krpata|date=October 2021|title=The Dilemma of Middle Powers: How AUKUS Has Reshaped the Potential for E3 Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific|url=https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/martin_krpata_aukus_e3_cooperation_indopacific_2021.pdf|publisher=Ifri, Notes du Cerfa|language=en|volume=166|quote=The (US) Department of Defense defined the Indo-Pacific as its "priority theater"...This tilt is an acknowledgment of China's increased role in world economics. China's share in world GDP has risen from 4% in 2000 to 16% today. Since it joined the WTO in 2001 and with the unfolding of the economic and financial crises in 2008–2009, which diminished the West's soft power and economic and financial strengths, China has become the world's powerhouse. This has increasingly led to what may be described today as great-power rivalry between China and the US.|access-date=8 January 2022|isbn=979-10-373-0432-2}}

List of middle powers

As with the great powers, there is no unanimous agreement among authorities as to which countries are considered middle powers. Lists are often the subject of much debate and tend to place comparatively large countries (e.g. Argentina) alongside relatively small ones (e.g. Norway).Solomon S (1997) [http://www.issafrica.org/Pubs/Monographs/No13/Solomon.html South African Foreign Policy and Middle Power Leadership] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426220103/http://www.issafrica.org/Pubs/Monographs/No13/Solomon.html |date=26 April 2015}}, ISS Clearly not all middle powers are of equal status; some are considered regional powers and members of the G20 (e.g. Australia), while others could very easily be considered small powers (e.g. the Czech Republic).{{cite journal

| last = Cabada

| first = Ladislav

| date = November 2005

| title = The New International Role of Small(er) States

| url = https://politicsincentraleurope.eu/documents/file/2005_11.pdf

| journal = The Journal of the Central European Political Science Association

| volume = 1

| issue = 1

| pages = 30–45

| access-date = 10 February 2020

}} Some larger middle powers also play important roles in the United Nations and other international organisations such as the WTO. As a middle power Canada has had considerable influence in world affairs through its peacekeeping efforts in the late 20th century. Canada is known for its strong commitment to international peace and security and is often called upon to serve as a mediator in conflicts.{{cite book | last1=Courtney | first1=J. | last2=Courtney | first2=J.C. | last3=Smith | first3=D. | title=The Oxford Handbook of Canadian Politics | publisher=OUP USA | series=Oxford Handbooks in Politics & International Relations | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-19-533535-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5KomEXgxvMcC&pg=PA363 | access-date=May 9, 2024 | page=363}}{{cite book | last1=Juneau | first1=T. | last2=Momani | first2=B. | title=Middle Power in the Middle East: Canada's Foreign and Defence Policies in a Changing Region | publisher=University of Toronto Press | year=2022 | isbn=978-1-4875-2847-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izRjEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT131 | page=131}}

The following is a list of 54 countries that have been, at some point in time since the post–Cold War era, considered middle powers by academics or other experts (Members of the G-20 major economies are in bold font, except for the EU member states and AU member states which are attended under a collective membership of the EU and AU respectively):

Africa (7 countries)
{{flagcountry|Algeria|size=23px}}Wurst J (2006) [http://www.gsinstitute.org/docs/ClingendaelBrief_Final.pdf Middle Powers Initiative Briefing Paper], GSI {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614193536/http://www.gsinstitute.org/docs/ClingendaelBrief_Final.pdf |date=14 June 2007 |df=y}}Cooper AF (1997) [http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?is=033368186X Niche Diplomacy - Middle Powers after the Cold War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306033144/http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?is=033368186X |date=6 March 2012 }}, palgraveBernard Wood, 'Towards North-South Middle Power Coalitions', in Middle Power Internationalism: The North-South Dimension, edited by Cranford Pratt (Montreal, McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990).{{Cite web|url=https://atalayar.com/en/content/morocco-and-algeria-struggle-regional-leadership|title=Morocco and Algeria, the struggle for regional leadership|publisher=Atalayar|last=Martín |first=Lucas |access-date=9 August 2020|date=5 June 2020}}
{{flagcountry|Egypt|size=23px}}Andrew F. Cooper, Agata Antkiewicz and Timothy M. Shaw, 'Lessons from/for BRICSAM about South-North Relations at the Start of the 21st Century: Economic Size Trumps All Else?', International Studies Review, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Winter, 2007), pp. 675, 687.Ploughshares Monitor (1997) [http://www.ploughshares.ca/libraries/monitor/mons97a.html Scrapping the Bomb: The role of middle power countries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927011548/http://www.ploughshares.ca/libraries/monitor/mons97a.html |date=27 September 2007 }}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/opinion/the-rise-of-the-middle-powers.html |title=The Rise of the Middle Powers |publisher=The New York Times Company |date=10 September 2012 |access-date=18 May 2019 |last=Gilley |first=Bruce}}
{{flagcountry|Ethiopia|size=23px}}{{Cite web |title=Ethiopia: East Africa's Emerging Giant |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/ethiopia-east-africas-emerging-giant |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=Council on Foreign Relations |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=5 reasons why Ethiopia could be the next global economy to watch |url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/5-reasons-why-ethiopia-could-be-the-next-global-economy-to-watch/ |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=World Economic Forum |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Africa |first=Somtribune |date=2020-08-29 |title=Ethiopia Can Be Africa's Next Superpower |url=https://www.somtribune.com/2020/08/29/ethiopia-can-be-africas-next-superpower/ |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=SomTribune |language=en-GB}}
{{flagcountry|Kenya|size=23px}}{{cite web | url=https://www.eurasiareview.com/21082023-kenya-a-regional-power-in-africa-and-the-indo-pacific-analysis/ | title=Kenya: A Regional Power in Africa and the Indo-Pacific – Analysis | date=21 August 2023 }}
{{flagcountry|Morocco|size=23px}}
{{flagcountry|Nigeria|size=23px}}{{Cite book|s2cid=244203245|doi=10.1007/978-981-16-0370-9_9|chapter=Between a Regional Hegemon and a Middle Power: The Case of Nigeria|title=Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory|series=Global Political Transitions|year=2021|last1=Kim|first1=Jiye|pages=221–241|isbn=978-981-16-0369-3}}
{{nowrap|{{flagcountry|South Africa|size=23px}}Gladys Lechini, Middle Powers: IBSA and the New South-South Cooperation. NACLA Report on the Americas, Vol. 40, No. 5 (2007): 28-33: 'Today, a new, more selective South-South cooperation has appeared, bringing some hope to the people of our regions. The trilateral alliance known as the India, Brazil, and South Africa Dialogue Forum, or IBSA, exemplifies the trend ... The three member countries face the same problems and have similar interests. All three consider themselves "middle powers" and leaders of their respective regions, yet they have also been subject to pressures from 'Emerging Middle Powers' Soft Balancing Strategy: State and Perspective of the IBSA Dialogue Forum. Hamburg: GIGA, 2007.Peter Vale, 'South Africa: Understanding the Upstairs and the Downstairs', in Niche Diplomacy: Middle Powers After the Cold War, edited by Andrew F. Cooper (London: Macmillan, 1997).Janis Van Der Westhuizen, 'South Africa's Emergence as a Middle Power', Third World Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 3 (1998), pp. 435-455.Pfister R (2006) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.cgi?path=239001176317320 The Apartheid Republuc and African States] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612022430/http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.cgi?path=239001176317320 |date=12 June 2007}}, H-NetEduard Jordaan, 'Barking at the Big Dogs: South Africa's Foreign Policy Towards the Middle East', Round Table, Vol. 97, No. 397 (2008), pp. 547-549.Flemes, Daniel, Emerging Middle Powers' Soft Balancing Strategy: State and Perspectives of the IBSA Dialogue Forum (1 August 2007). GIGA Working Paper No. 57. {{doi|10.2139/ssrn.1007692}}}}
Americas (6 countries)
{{flagcountry|Argentina|size=23px}}
{{flagcountry|Canada|size=23px}}Behringer RM (2005) [http://cac.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/40/3/305 Middle Power Leadership on the Human Security Agenda] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114151026/http://cac.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/40/3/305 |date=14 November 2007 }}, SAGECrosby AD (1997) [https://www.jstor.org/pss/424829 A Middle-Power Military in Alliance: Canada and NORAD], JSTORPetersen K (2003) [http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Articles4/Petersen_Canada-Iraq.htm Quest to Reify Canada as a Middle Power], Dissident Voice
{{flagcountry|Chile|size=23px}}Heine J (2006) [http://se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=PublishingHouse&fileid=EBFD6763-36B0-7571-5B36-97F6502F60DC&lng=en On the Manner of Practising the New Diplomacy], ISN {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007112321/http://se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=PublishingHouse&fileid=EBFD6763-36B0-7571-5B36-97F6502F60DC&lng=en|date=7 October 2007|df=y}}
{{flagcountry|Colombia|size=23px}}{{cite web|url=http://www.disarm.emb-japan.go.jp/statements/Statement/kyoto020807.htm |title=THE UN DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE IN KYOTO |publisher=disarm.emb-japan.go.jp |access-date=13 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116212429/http://www.disarm.emb-japan.go.jp/statements/Statement/kyoto020807.htm |archive-date=16 January 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=PublishingHouse&fileid=EBFD6763-36B0-7571-5B36-97F6502F60DC&lng=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007112321/http://se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=PublishingHouse&fileid=EBFD6763-36B0-7571-5B36-97F6502F60DC&lng=en |archive-date=7 October 2007 |title=On the Manner of Practising the New Diplomacy |publisher=The Centre for International Governance Innovation |last=Heine |first=Jorge |access-date=13 November 2015}}
{{flagcountry|Mexico|size=23px}}Louis Belanger and Gordon Mace, 'Middle Powers and Regionalism in the Americas: The Cases of Argentina and Mexico', in Niche Diplomacy: Middle Powers After the Cold War, edited by Andrew F. Cooper (London: Macmillan, 1997).Pierre G. Goad, 'Middle Powers to the Rescue?', Far Eastern Economic Review, Vol. 163, No. 24 (2000), p. 69.Pellicer O (2006) [http://www.fes-globalization.org/publications/FES_BP_Mexico_Pellicer_eng.pdf Mexico – a Reluctant Middle Power?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614193536/http://www.fes-globalization.org/publications/FES_BP_Mexico_Pellicer_eng.pdf |date=14 June 2007 }}, FES
{{flagcountry|Peru|size=23px}}{{cite web|url=https://www.clingendael.org/pub/2018/strategic-monitor-2018-2019/a-balancing-act/|title=A Balancing Act: The Role of Middle Powers in Contemporary Diplomacy |first1=Willem |last1=Oosterveld |first2=Bianca |last2=Torossian |work=Strategic Monitor 2018-2019 |publisher=Clingendael Institute |access-date=18 May 2019}}{{cite book |last1=McKercher|first1=B. J. C. |title=Routledge Handbook of Diplomacy and Statecraft |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136664366|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EtCoAgAAQBAJ |language=en|quote=a Middle Power like Peru lack the diplomatic and other resources...}}
Asia (20 countries)
{{flagcountry|Bangladesh|size=23px}}{{Cite journal|title= Bangladesh at 50: The Rise of A Bangladesh That Can Say No|journal= Security Nexus|date= 6 January 2022|volume= 23 - 2022|url= https://apcss.org/nexus_articles/bangladesh-at-50-the-rise-of-a-bangladesh-that-can-say-no/|last1= Yasmin|first1= Lailufar}}
{{flagcountry|North Korea|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} North Korea|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/north-korea/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en}}
{{flagcountry|Indonesia|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} Indonesia|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/indonesia/|access-date=18 December 2021 |website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en|quote=Indonesia has for the first time reached a top-ten placement in the Index. Jakarta now outranks Singapore as the most diplomatically influential player in Southeast Asia.}}Jonathan H. Ping, Middle Power Statecraft: Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Asia Pacific (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2005).
{{flagcountry|Iran|size=23px}}Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Raymond Hinnesbusch, Syria and Iran: Middle Power in a Penetrated Regional System (London: Routledge, 1997).{{cite journal|last=Samhat |first=Nayef H. |year=2000 |title=Middle Powers and American Foreign Policy: Lessons for Irano-U.S. Relations |journal=Policy Studies Journal |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=11–26|doi=10.1111/j.1541-0072.2000.tb02013.x }}Ahouie M (2004) [http://web.mit.edu/ISG/iaqfall04ahouie.htm Iran Analysis Quarterly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517104622/http://web.mit.edu/ISG/iaqfall04ahouie.htm |date=17 May 2020 }}, MITForeign Affairs Committee (2006) [https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmfaff/363/36310.htm Iran]
{{flagcountry|Iraq|size=23px}}
{{flagcountry|Israel|size=23px}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html|title=www.lrb.co.uk}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.acronym.org.uk/dd/dd76/76actg.htm|title=www.acronym.org.uk|access-date=2 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025443/http://www.acronym.org.uk/dd/dd76/76actg.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}
{{flagcountry|Kazakhstan|size=23px}}{{Cite web|url=https://spectator.us/kazakhstan-struggle-central-asia/|title=Kazakhstan and the struggle over Central Asia|date=5 June 2019|website=Spectator USA|access-date=17 February 2020|archive-date=26 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126123718/https://spectator.us/kazakhstan-struggle-central-asia/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite journal|url=https://www.insightturkey.com/articles/kazakhstans-middle-power-response-to-terrorism|title=Kazakhstan's Middle Power Response to Terrorism|first=Aidar Kurmashev, Dana Akhmedyanova, Houman Sadri, Akbota|last=Zholdasbekova|date=1 October 2018|journal=Insight Turkey|via=www.insightturkey.com}}
{{flagcountry|Kuwait|size=23px}}
{{flagcountry|Malaysia|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} Malaysia|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/malaysia/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en}}Mace G, Belanger L (1999) [https://books.google.com/books?id=kZlDRD2vL6IC The Americas in Transition: The Contours of Regionalism] (p 153)Kim R. Nossal and Richard Stubbs, 'Mahathir's Malaysia: An Emerging Middle Power?' in Niche Diplomacy: Middle Powers After the Cold War, edited by Andrew F. Cooper (London: Macmillan, 1997).
{{flagcountry|Pakistan|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} Pakistan|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/pakistan/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en}}{{cite book|author=Barry Buzan|title=The United States and the great powers: world politics in the twenty-first century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XvtS5hKg9jYC&pg=PR8|access-date=27 December 2011|year=2004|publisher=Polity|isbn=978-0-7456-3374-9|pages=71, 99}}
{{flagcountry|Philippines|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} Philippines|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/philippines/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en}}Jonathan H. Ping [https://books.google.com/books?id=FGM1zEdCOmAC&dq=middle+power+philippines&pg=PA103 Middle Power Statecraft] (p 104)
{{flagcountry|Qatar|size=23px}}{{cite web|url=http://publicdiplomacymagazine.com/middle-powers-squeezed-out-or-adaptive/|title=Middle Powers: Squeezed out or Adaptive?|publisher=Public Diplomacy Magazine|last=Cooper|first=Andrew F.|access-date=12 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629211701/http://www.publicdiplomacymagazine.com/middle-powers-squeezed-out-or-adaptive/|archive-date=29 June 2017|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www18.georgetown.edu/data/people/mk556/publication-61175.pdf|title=Mediation and Qatari Foreign Policy|last=Kamrava|first=Mehran|access-date=12 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007183501/http://www18.georgetown.edu/data/people/mk556/publication-61175.pdf|archive-date=7 October 2013|url-status=dead}}
{{nowrap|{{flagcountry|South Korea|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} South Korea|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/south-korea/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en}}Armstrong DF (1997) [http://sc.lib.muohio.edu/dissertations/AAI9728811/ South Korea's foreign policy in the post-Cold War era: A middle power perspective] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720011332/http://sc.lib.muohio.edu/dissertations/AAI9728811/ |date=20 July 2011}}Gilbert Rozman, 'South Korea and Sino-Japanese Rivalry: A Middle Power's Options Within the East Asia Core Triangle', Pacific Review, Vol. 20, No. 2 (2007), pp. 197-220.Woosang Kim, 'Korea as a Middle Power in Northeast Asian Security', in The United States and Northeast Asia: Debates, Issues, and New Order, edited by G. John Ikenbgerry and Chung-in Moon (Lantham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008).{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24712289-7583,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912182114/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24712289-7583,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 September 2012 |work=The Australian |first=Greg |last=Sheridan |title=The plucky country and the lucky country draw closer |date=27 November 2008}}}}
{{flagcountry|Saudi Arabia|size=23px}}{{Cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0XPQ/is_2002_Sept_23/ai_92080737|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023220033/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0XPQ/is_2002_Sept_23/ai_92080737|title=Kawaguchi asks Saudi Arabia to put pressure on Iraq Japan Policy & Politics |archive-date=23 October 2007|website=findarticles.com}}{{Cite web|url=http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=4349|title=Saudi Surprise|date=26 August 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040826031056/http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=4349|archive-date=26 August 2004}}
{{flagcountry|Singapore|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} Singapore|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/singapore/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en|quote= Uneven economic impacts and recoveries from the pandemic will likely continue to alter the regional balance of power well into the decade. Only Taiwan, the United States and Singapore are now predicted to have larger economies in 2030 than originally forecast prior to the pandemic.}}{{cite web|url=http://web.isanet.org/Web/Conferences/CEEISA-ISA-LBJ2016/Archive/af8c46fb-30e2-4b6e-8aff-d4d36e0906dc.pdf|title=Middle Powers, Norms, and Balancing: ROK's and ASEAN's Normative Balancing against Rising China|publisher=Chung-Ang University|access-date=8 February 2020}}{{cite book |last1=de Swielande |first1=Tanguy Struye |last2=Vandamme |first2=Dorothée |last3=Walton |first3=Dorothée |last4=Wilkins |first4=Thomas |editor-last=Peng Er |editor-first=Lam |title=Rethinking Middle Powers in the Asian Century: New Theories, New Cases |publisher=Routledge |date=2018 |chapter=Chapter 14: The Singapore paradox: The "little red dot" as a "middle power" |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qs5wDwAAQBAJ&q=asian%20middle%20power&pg=PT347 |isbn=9780429873843}}
{{flagcountry|Taiwan|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} Taiwan|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/taiwan/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en|quote= Uneven economic impacts and recoveries from the pandemic will likely continue to alter the regional balance of power well into the decade. Only Taiwan, the United States and Singapore are now predicted to have larger economies in 2030 than originally forecast prior to the pandemic.}}{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/taiwan-signals-its-readiness-to-join-the-worlds-democratic-powers-20160122-gmbk9b.html |access-date=10 January 2020 |work=the sydney morning herald |first=Bruce |last=Jacobs |title=Taiwan signals its readiness to join the world's democratic powers |date=22 January 2016}}
{{flagcountry|Thailand|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} Thailand|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/thailand/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en}}
{{flagcountry|Turkey|size=23px}}Meltem Myftyler and Myberra Yyksel, 'Turkey: A Middle Power in the New Order', in Niche Diplomacy: Middle Powers After the Cold War, edited by Andrew F. Cooper (London: Macmillan, 1997).
{{flagcountry|United Arab Emirates|size=23px}}{{cite web|url=http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-uae-egypt%E2%80%99s-new-frontier-libya-11184|title=The UAE and Egypt's New Frontier in Libya|work=The National Interest|date=3 September 2014|access-date=26 October 2014|first=Ellen|last=Laipson}}{{cite web|url=http://www.gevans.org/speeches/speech441.html|title=Middle Power Diplomacy|first=Gareth|last=Evans|date=29 June 2011|access-date=26 October 2014}}
{{flagcountry|Vietnam|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} Vietnam|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/vietnam/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en|quote= "Three middle powers — Vietnam, Australia and Taiwan — were the only countries to gain in comprehensive power in 2020. When neither the United States nor China can establish undisputed primacy in Asia, the actions and choices of middle powers will become more consequential."}}{{Cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2019/08/middle-powers-joining-together-the-case-of-vietnam-and-australia/|title=Middle Powers, Joining Together: The Case of Vietnam and Australia}}
Europe (19 countries)
{{flagcountry|Austria|size=23px}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hcss.nl/pub/2018/strategic-monitor-2018-2019/a-balancing-act/|title=A Balancing Act: The Role of Middle Powers in Contemporary Diplomacy|publisher=The Hague Center for Strategic Studies|access-date=8 February 2020|archive-date=10 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610112410/https://www.hcss.nl/pub/2018/strategic-monitor-2018-2019/a-balancing-act/|url-status=dead}}{{cite book

|last=Lauber

|first=Volkmar

|date=17 September 2019

|title=Contemporary Austrian Politics

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1U2wDwAAQBAJ&q=austria%20middle%20power&pg=PT150

|publisher=Routledge

|isbn=9780429720987

}}{{cite book

|last=Taylor

|first=Ian

|date=2001

|title=Stuck in Middle GEAR: South Africa's Post-apartheid Foreign Relations

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3tfjkiq0b7sC&q=romania+middle+power&pg=PA19

|location=London

|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group

|page= 19

|isbn=9780275972752

}}

{{flagcountry|Belgium|size=23px}}Inoguchi K (2002) [http://www.disarm.emb-japan.go.jp/statements/Statement/kyoto020807.htm The UN Disarmament Conference in Kyote] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122633/http://www.disarm.emb-japan.go.jp/statements/Statement/kyoto020807.htm |date=29 September 2007 |df=y}}Caplan G (2006) [http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article13601 From Rwanda to Darfur: Lessons learned?], SudanTribune
{{flagcountry|Bulgaria|size=23px}}{{cite book |last=I. Handel |first=Michael |date=1990 |title=Weak States in the International System |pages=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOELm3YduxQC&q=finland%20middle%20power&pg=PA28 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780714640730}}{{cite book

|date=2005

|title=Turkish Policy Quarterly, Volume 4

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1TktAQAAIAAJ&q=romania+middle+power https://books.google.bg/books?id=1TktAQAAIAAJ&q=bulgaria+middle+power

|location=Turkey

|publisher=Big Art

}}

{{flagcountry|Croatia|size=23px}}
{{flagcountry|Czech Republic|size=23px}}{{cite journal

| last = John

| first = Ravenhill

| date = 1988

| title = Cycles of middle power activism: Constraint andchoice in Australian and Canadian foreign policies

| url = http://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Cycles-of-middle-power-activism-Constraint-and-choice-in-Australian-and-Canadian-foreign-policies.pdf

| journal = Australian Journal of International Affairs

| volume = 52

| issue = 3

| pages = 309–327

| doi = 10.1080/10357719808445259

| access-date = 10 February 2020

}}

{{flagcountry|Denmark|size=23px}}Pratt C (1990) [http://mqup.mcgill.ca/book.php?bookid=930 Middle Power Internationalism], MQUP
{{flagcountry|Finland|size=23px}}{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/7493871|title=The Concept of Middle Power |publisher=Ohio State University |access-date=8 February 2020|last1=Schweller |first1=Randall }}{{cite book |last=I. Handel |first=Michael |date=1990 |title=Weak States in the International System |pages=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOELm3YduxQC&q=finland%20middle%20power&pg=PA28 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780714640730}}
{{flagcountry|Greece|size=23px}}Thanos Veremēs (1997) [https://books.google.com/books?id=sn-yAAAAIAAJ The Military in greek Politics] "Black Rose Books"
{{flagcountry|Hungary|size=23px}}Higgott RA, Cooper AF (1990) [https://www.jstor.org/pss/2706854 Middle Power Leadership and Coalition Building]
{{flagcountry|Ireland|size=23px}}{{cite book

|last=Pratt

|first=Cranford

|date=1990

|title=Middle Power Internationalism: The North-South Dimension

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eaLmKPmFnLgC&q=ireland+middle+power&pg=PA32

|location=Montreal

|publisher=McGill–Queen's University Press

|page= 32

|isbn=9780773507258

}}{{cite book

|last1=Tonra

|first1=Ben

|last2=Ward

|first2=Eilís

|date=2002

|title=Ireland in International Affairs: Interests, Institutions and Identities

|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fFicRmV_LcIC&q=ireland%20middle%20power&pg=PA20

|chapter=Chapter 1: Ireland, Peacekeeping and Defence Policy: Challenges and Opportunities

|editor1-last=Murphy

|editor1-first=Ray

|location=Dublin, Republic of Ireland

|publisher=Institute of Public Administration

|pages= 20–21

|isbn=9781902448763

}}{{cite news

| last = Gillespie

| first = Paul

| date = 17 January 2015

| title = Representing Ireland – multitasking in a multilateral world

| url = https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/representing-ireland-multitasking-in-a-multilateral-world-1.2068867

| newspaper = The Irish Times

| access-date = 8 February 2020

}}{{cite book

|last=Ishizuka

|first=Katsumi

|date=23 April 2014

|title=Ireland and International Peacekeeping Operations 1960-2000

|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CSxpAwAAQBAJ&q=ireland%20middle%20power&pg=PA136

|chapter=Four: Ireland's peacekeeping policy in the post-Cold War era

|publisher=Routledge

|page= 136

|isbn=9781135295264

}}{{cite journal

|title=The Role of Middle Power–NGO Coalitions in Global Policy: The Case of the Cluster Munitions Ban

|last1=Bolton

|first1=Matthew

|last2=Nash

|first2=Thomas

|journal=Global Policy

|date=7 May 2010

|volume=1

|issue=2

|pages=172–184

|publisher=Wiley

|doi=10.1111/j.1758-5899.2009.00015.x

|doi-access=free

}}

{{flagcountry|Netherlands|size=23px}}
{{flagcountry|Norway|size=23px}}
{{flagcountry|Poland|size=23px}}Kirton J (2006) [http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/scholar/kirton2006/kirton-harper-fp.pdf Harper's Foreign Policy Success?]
{{flagcountry|Portugal|size=23px}}according to Yves Lacoste, Géopolitique, Larousse, 2009, p. 134, both Spain and Portugal exert a real influence in Africa and in the Americas.
{{flagcountry|Romania|size=23px}}{{cite book

|date=2005

|title=Turkish Policy Quarterly, Volume 4

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1TktAQAAIAAJ&q=romania+middle+power https://books.google.bg/books?id=1TktAQAAIAAJ&q=bulgaria+middle+power

|location=Turkey

|publisher=Big Art

}}{{cite book

|last=Wood

|first=Bernald

|date=1 June 1988

|title=The middle powers and the general interest

|url=https://archive.org/details/middlepowersgene0000wood

|url-access=registration

|location=Ottawa

|publisher=The North-South Institute

|page=

|isbn=9780920494813

}}

{{flagcountry|Spain|size=23px}}
{{flagcountry|Sweden|size=23px}}Rudengren J, Gisle P, Brann K (1995) [http://www.nsi-ins.ca/english/publications/multilateral/sweden.asp Middle Power Clout: Sweden And The Development Banks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070422131920/http://www.nsi-ins.ca/english/publications/multilateral/sweden.asp |date=22 April 2007 }}
{{flagcountry|Switzerland}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.issafrica.org/Pubs/Monographs/No13/Solomon.html|title=South African Foreign Policy and Middle Power Leadership - Fairy God-mother, Hegemon or Partner? In Search of a South African Foreign Policy - Monograph No 13, 1997|date=26 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426220103/http://www.issafrica.org/Pubs/Monographs/No13/Solomon.html|archive-date=26 April 2015}}
{{flagcountry|Ukraine|size=23px}}{{Cite book|title=Bridging the European Divide |last=Spero |first=Joshua |year=2004 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9780742535534 |page=206 }}
Oceania (2 countries)
{{flagcountry|Australia|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} Australia|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/australia/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en|quote= "Three middle powers — Vietnam, Australia and Taiwan — were the only countries to gain in comprehensive power in 2020. When neither the United States nor China can establish undisputed primacy in Asia, the actions and choices of middle powers will become more consequential."}}Tobias Harris, 'Japan Accepts its "Middle-Power" Fate'. Far Eastern Economic Review Vol. 171, No. 6 (2008), p. 45: 'Japan is settling into a position as a middle power in Asia, sitting uneasily between the U.S., its security ally, and China, its most important economic partner. In this it finds itself in a situation similar to Australia, India, South Korea and the members of Asean.'Yasmi Adriansyah, 'Questioning Indonesia's place in the world', Asia Times (20 September 2011): 'Countries often categorized as middle power (MP) include Australia, Canada and Japan. The reasons for this categorization are the nations' advanced political-economic stature as well as their significant contribution to international cooperation and development. India and Brazil have recently become considered middle powers because of their rise in the global arena—particularly with the emerging notion of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China).'{{Cite book|last=Buzan |first=Barry |title=The United States and the Great Powers |publisher=Polity Press |year=2004 |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |page=71 |isbn=0-7456-3375-7}}Hazleton WA (2005) [http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/0/7/1/2/0/p71207_index.html Middle Power Bandwagoning? Australia's Security Relationship with the United States] {{dead link|date=August 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, allacademic{{cite book

|last1=Gilley

|first1=Bruce

|last2=O'Neil

|first2=Andrew

|date=8 July 2014

|title=Middle Powers and the Rise of China

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WVQ7BAAAQBAJ&q=austria%20middle%20power&pg=PA30

|publisher=Georgetown University Press

|page=30

|isbn=9781626160842

}}

{{flagcountry|New Zealand|size=23px}}{{Cite web|title=Asia Power Index 2021 Edition {{!}} New Zealand|url=https://power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/new-zealand/|access-date=18 December 2021|website=power.lowyinstitute.org|language=en}}{{Div col end}}