Middle power

In international relations, a middle power is a sovereign state that is not a superpower nor a great power, but still has large or moderate influence and international recognition. 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 (empires), mezano (middle powers) and piccoli (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."

No agreed standard method defines which states are middle powers. 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. Economics 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. This usage is not universal, and some define middle power to include nations that can be regarded as regional powers. The international relations scholar Enrico Fels employs k-means clustering in order to identify six regional middle powers in Asia-Pacific based on a composite index that involves 54 indicators and covers the aggregated power base of 44 regional states. Based on a Realist ontology he conducts mixed-method research to analyse these six regional middle powers' balancing and bandwagoning strategies in order to outline whether a relational power shift between China and the United States has taken place since the end of the Cold War.

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