| Well it's relative.
Ultimately I think it comes down to a country's ability to whack the crap out of any other country that gets in the way.
Of course, economics, scientific advancement etc. all count. After all if you lead in all that chances are you will also be militarily strong. I think military strength is probably a good aggregate indicator of all the other factors.
So Rome used to be a super power.
Spain used to be a super power.
The UK used to be a super power
France was a super power under Napoleon.
Nowadays with these complex weapons such as biological etc. the term is harder to define... |