A Study in National Power and its Implications for Regional, Middle, and Great Power Theory: the Cases of Italy, Japan, and Australia

Abstract

The current international system is undergoing a significant structural change, which is partially due to the decline of the United States as the remaining superpower, the slow diminution of the power system created by great powers, and, concurrent, the rise of China and India, as well as the growing weight of ‘secondary powers’; that is middle and regional powers. Not only is the international system increasingly characterised by an unregulated multipolarity, but relevant concepts of international relations (IR), such as national power and theories relating to power hierarchies, have been somewhat neglected since the end of the Cold War, hence limiting their value for the study of IR. It is against this background that this dissertation seeks to rethink the concept of national power, investigate its implications for regional, middle, and great power theory, and employ Italy, Japan, and Australia as relevant countries to be examined as a set of comparative case studies. This thesis adopts a novel, three-pronged approach to national power, respectively employing realist, liberalist, and constructivist understandings of states’ potential, comprising a wide set of parameters aimed at comprehensively depicting a country’s capabilities. Examining in depth both hard and soft power, it therefore frames not only traditional elements, but also understudied ones such as cultural power and social characteristics. Further, by applying it to the three case studies, it sheds new light on the international status of three ‘peculiar’ members of the international community, since it is argued here that Italy and Japan are both (atypical) great powers as well as regional powers, and Australia is both a middle and a regional power. Such a theoretical intersection of distinct concepts is still overlooked in IR, and has therefore led to the choice of these specific case studies. Lastly, by applying the novel national power framework to the three countries, this research seeks to rethink the definitional criteria of great power theory, generally understudied since the end of the Cold War, and those of regional power theory, still underdeveloped, while supporting a more complete interpretation of the positional/hierarchical criterion relating to middle power theory. With the implementation of a ‘parametric’, data-driven comparative analysis, this dissertation provides a threefold contribution. First, it produces a revised understanding of national power; second, it outlines a more comprehensive image of the international status of Italy, Japan, and Australia; and third, it offers an updated perspective on regional, middle, and great powerhood, with specific reference to their positional criteria. As a result, the implications of this thesis lay the ground for new theoretical and analytical tasks, therefore calling for future research.