South Korea and the study of middle powers

After reading this, you'll wonder why we call South Korea a middle power

There are a plethora of studies on South Korea as a middle power. Some argue Korea needs to change to fit the term, some reinvent the term to fit Korea, and still others just use the term without questioning. Very few ask why we bother at all.

The modern term “middle power” is an historically embedded neologism – a new term created to address a specific set of contemporary circumstances. Its lexicographic journey commenced with Canadian and later Australian officials who sought to distinguish their nations as deserving a more prominent role in post-World War II global governance with the formation of the United Nations. There is no evidence that these officials sought the revival of an earlier used term, nor evidence that they were aware of earlier uses, which would be later discovered as academics explored the concept.

To these officials, it was a simple compound term, a modifying adjective “middle” and noun “power” brought together to fill a gap where existing vocabulary, such as supe…