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Originally Posted by Ironduke
BTW zraver, is this your table or did you borrow and adapt it from elsewhere? I wouldn't qualify China as being a superpower -- they can't project force. India and Brazil don't come close. EU doesn't have a unified military structure or common foreign policy, though they have started an EU Rapid Reaction Force. They could very well be a superpower with deeper political integration and greater military interoperability.
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This is my list, and the criteria are mine, although the term hyper-power isn't.
Ironduke, you are still thinking of Superpower in terms that embody the US. This is an unfair standard and makes for unbalanced comparisons. Significant global force projection is a hyper-power ability, along with hegemonic traits. A modern superpower is more than just military might. it is also economic might, political might, and population.
China has a P5 seat this is a political weapon every bit as powerful as a nuclear bomb, just look at the Iran crisis. China's economy is also a hub of global activity and the second largest economy world wide. Chinese missiles however limited in number can reach any nation on earth and obliterate all but the largest of them. There is really no way to reduce China to the level of mere great power, not and have that classification mean anything.
India likewise is an emerging superpower, as is brazil, massive populations and trillion dollar (or soon to be) economies commands a certain level of respect above even great power. Brazil also surrendered its nuclear ambitions of its own free will so I don't necessarily hold that lack against Brazil.
The EU isn't even a nation, but it holds sway over 400 million people and the worlds wealthiest single economic area, has 2 P5 members and several of the worlds biggest military powers. Anyway you cut it the EU is an emerging super power with hyper-power potential, especially as the federalization of Europe continues and the EU takes on more and more powers once associated exclusively with the sovereign state.