Abstract
This chapter analyzes the main characteristics and foreign policy of core states according to their national power and geostructural position. Firstly, the world powers are the states better positioned in the geostructure in the last decades; however, since the 1990s, these states have started to lose, in relative terms, their international preponderance. Nevertheless, they are central states that possess the greatest economic-military, socio-institutional, and communicative-cultural power. Regarding international governance, world powers are members of the G-7, some of them are permanent members of the UN Security Council, and members of the most important international organizations such as IMF, World Bank, WTO, NATO, etc. In the end, world powers can be considered the directors of the international system. Middle powers are central states that have very high levels of socio-institutional power, but unlike world powers, middle powers possess a relatively smaller economic-military and communicative-cultural power. These countries traditionally promote international cooperation and peace, making them valuable allies to world powers in managing international governance. Unlike the declining world powers, middle powers are stagnant in their geostructural positioning, which means a relative loss of primacy compared to other emerging countries. Finally, semicore states are countries with significant levels of development and well-being, but they do not stand out for their economic-military or communicative-cultural power. Although they are developed states, they have never been labeled as "powers" except for a few exceptions. They are also strategic partners for international governance, distinguishing among two different types: states that have recently surpassed the semiperiphery to be incorporated into the core due to their geographical, political, or economic proximity to core powers; or they were middle powers but declined during a long period until occupying a more marginal place within the core of the international system.
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Pulleiro Méndez, C., Patiño Orozco, G. (2024). The Core States in the International Geostructure. In: Morales Ruvalcaba, D., Rocha Valencia, A. (eds) National Power and International Geostructure. Contributions to International Relations. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-1180-2_6
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