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原題目題號：DSE-2012-Essay-07(以日本作為例子)
選取一個20世紀下半葉的一個「強國」，討論該國家為何可被視為是「強國」。
定義及架構 「強國」顧名思義即是強大的國家，而強國可從兩方面介定，一方面是在經濟和軍事等硬實力方面擁有富強的實力，另一方面是在政治、教育及文化方面等軟實力方面擁有龐大的影響力，使之不單能屹立於國際舞台上，更能塑造世界的發展。而20世紀下半葉的日本在上述各方面均達到了「強國」的標準，故可被視為是一個「強國」。
主旨句 經濟方面，日本在經濟方面的狀況也符合強國的指標。 // 標準 經濟強國應該是十分富裕，經濟產業名列世界前茅。 // 段落內容 20世紀下半葉的日本在經濟上達到上述標準。 在富裕程度方面，日本經濟於二次大戰後迅速復甦及增長，至1968年，日本的國民生產總值更成功超越西德，成為全球第二經濟大國。及後，至1987年，日本的人均國民收入已成功超越了經濟大國美國，其外匯儲備於同年也超越西德，居於世界首位，可見日本在經濟方面十分富庶。此外，在經濟產業方面，日本在多方面的產業均列居世界前茅，不論在漁業方面還是工業方面(汽車業、造船業)，日本於20世紀下半葉均長期居於世界首三，而且在高科技產業，包括半導體、電腦、產業機械人等均是領先大部分國家，無疑是經濟強國的典範。 // 小結 可見，20世紀下半葉的日本十分富裕，而且經濟名列世界前茅，足以令其被稱為強國。
軍事方面，強大的軍事實力足以令日本冠以強國之名。軍事強國指擁有先進及強大的武備。儘管日本於二次大戰戰敗後，被限制軍事的發展，包括禁止擁有軍隊，並且限制軍費開支至國民生產總值的1%。然而，此也無阻日本成為軍事強國，因日本於1982年起突破1%的軍事開支限制，軍事開支更於1983年超越了英、法、德，成為了全球第二大軍費開支國，令日本能夠搖身一變成為軍事強國。在充裕的軍費投入下，日本的自衛隊縱使只有約20萬人，但卻配備先進及強大的武備，包括在空軍方面擁有140多架F-15J戰鬥機(1990年代初)，空軍實力雄霸亞洲。而且，在海軍方面，日本在1990年擁有60艘驅逐艦及護衛艦，而且全部服役船齡均在20年內，海軍綜合實力在1990年代初蘇聯解體後成為了僅次於美國的海軍強國。可見，先進和強大的軍事實力能反映日本的強國地位。
除了經濟和軍事方面的硬實力，日本在政治、教育及文化方面的軟實力也足以證明其強國地位。
政治方面，日本在政治方面的影響力也能令其被視為是強國。政治強國指一國擁有政治影響力，在國際事務發揮重要的影響力。日本早於1958年起已經多次獲選為聯合國的非常任理事國，承擔維護世界和平與安全的重任。更甚，自日本於1950-70年代經濟起飛後，日本積極恢復其國際大國的角色，例如不斷提高對外援助的金額，至1991年，日本對外援助資金更超越了美國，成為全球第一大援助國，成為推動發展中國家發展的一股重要力量。再者，日本也積極於國際維和事務上發揮重要性，例如在1990年代，日本以糧食援助作為契機，與北韓於1991年進行「日朝會談」以討論北韓的核問題，有助下啟21世紀初六方會談的出現；在1992年，日本也參與聯合國在柬埔寨的維持和平行動，派出600名自衛隊隊員到該地，協助進行維和工作。可見，日本是塑造及影響國際局勢發展的重要力量，有著強國的特徵。
教育方面，高的教育及學術水平能令以日本被冠以強國之名。教育強國指高的教育水平，而且在學術方面擁有驕人成就。無可否定，日本在教育方面的確符合上述標準。在教育水平方面，日本自1947年《教育基本法》起就已經實行了9年義務教育，再加上往後日本政府持續投放更多的開支在教育方面，日本的高中升學率在1999年已經高達97%，大學升學率也於2000年達到49.1%，名列世界前茅。此外，日本的學術水平發展蓬勃，東京大學、京都大學等享負盛名，而且，日本在2000年前後的學術論文在市場佔有率一直保持世界第二，出產大量學術文章。再者，日本在1950-2000年間更有9人曾獲諾貝爾獎，是歐美國家以外獲獎最多的國家，反映其學術水平冠絕亞洲，更能媲美西方。可見，高的教育及學術水平也足以令日本被視為是一個強國。
文化方面，龐大的文化影響力亦標示出日本的強國地位。文化強國指一國不但保持了自身的獨有文化特色，更能將己國的文化傳播到其他國家，影響其他國家的文化發展。於20世紀下半葉的日本完全符合了上述標準，因日本在保留自身文化方面取得了顯著了成果，例如日本傳統的服飾「和服」雖然不再符合現今的工業社會，但卻會予以保留，在部分傳統節日時會再穿上。更甚，日本的特色文化更大量輸出到其他國家，影響著其他國家的文化發展，例如壽司、拉麵的飲食文化不但能在鄰近亞洲各國可以找到，甚至全球各大城市也能夠品嚐。此外，日本的動漫影視文化更席捲全球，例如《叮噹》、《足球小將》等膾炙人口，成為全球追捧的漫畫作品。以上種種均能夠反映日本具有強大的文化影響力，是塑造世界文化發展的重要部分。可見，日本在文化方面也符合了強國的指標。
總括而言，日本不論在經濟、軍事方面的硬實力，抑或是政治、教育及文化方面的軟實力均符合了強國的標準，冠以強國之名確是實至名歸。
Select one ‘power’ in the second half of the 20th century and discuss why it could be regarded as a ‘power’.
Literally, a “Power” refers to a powerful nation which could be determined in two aspects. On one hand it refers to the nation which had great hard power such as economy and military; on the other hand, the nation had huge soft power with lots of influence on the political, educational and cultural aspects. This great power could not only stand firmly in the international scene; she could even shape the world’s development. Japan reached the standard of being a “power” in the second half of the 20th century and hence could be regarded as a “power”.
Economically, the economy of Japan was up to the standard of being a power. An economic power should be an affluent nation with high ranks in economic production. Japan in the second half of the 20th century matched the above standard. In terms of affluence, the economy of Japan revived and grew immediately after the Two World Wars. In 1968, the Gross National Product (GNP) 國民生產總值 of Japan successfully surpassed that of West Germany and was the second largest economy in the globe. After that in 1987, The national per capita income人均國民收入 of Japan surpassed the US, an economically big power. In the same year, the official foreign exchange reserves of Japan surpassed West Germany and ranked the first. These implied the affluence of the Japan economy. Apart from that, in terms of economic production, the production of Japan ranked high in different industries. In the second half of the 20th century, she ranked third fishery漁業 and industrial production (Automobile industry汽車業 and shipbuilding industry造船業) in the world. Japan was leading most countries in high-tech industry, including semiconductor半導體, computer電腦 and industrial robot產業機械人. It showed that Japan was a role model as an economic power. And was very affluent in the second half of the 20th century. She ranked high in the economic aspect and thus could be regarded as a power.
Militarily, the strong military strength of Japan was sufficient for her to gain the reputation as a power. A military power referred to the owning of advanced and powerful weapons. Although Japan lost in the Second World War, this could not stop her from being a military power. Japan spent less than 1% of GDP with the restriction of military expenses from 1982. In 1983, her military expenses surpassed that of Britain, France and Germany, and successfully became the second country with most military expenses. With the abundant investment on military expenditure, Japan had a lot of advanced and powerful weapons despite the fact that her self-defense force just amounted to 200,000 people. For instance, the air force owned 140 F-15J Eagle (Early 1990s) and she ranked first in Asia. Also, in terms of navy, Japan owned 60 destroyers驅逐艦 and frigates護衛艦. Apart from that, the age of vessels in service was just less than 20 years. The overall navy power was just behind that of the US after Soviet dissolution in the early 1990s. This showed Japan’s status as a power with her advanced and powerful navy strength.
Apart from the hard power of Japan in her economy and military, her soft power which included aspects like political, educational and cultural could prove her reputation as a world power.
Politically, the influence of Japan in the political aspect allowed her to be regarded as a power. A political power referred to a country which had great political influence and had huge influential power in international affairs. Japan was severally elected as a non-permanent member非常任理事國 of the United Nations Security Council since 1958. She was bearing the responsibility of preserving world peace and safety. Moreover, since the rapid economic growth of Japan in the 1950s to 1970s, Japan actively resumed her role as an international power. For instance, she continuously increased the amount of foreign aid to other countries. In 1991, the foreign aid of Japan exceeded that of the US and became the first aid giving nation in the world. She was an important force in driving the development of the developing countries. Apart from that, Japan actively worked on preserving world peace. For instance, in the 1990s, she utilized the food aid provided as an opportunity to organize the Japan-North Korea talks日朝會談 in 1991 with North Korea. The nuclear problem of North Korea was discussed. This facilitated the occurrence of the six-party talks六方會談 in the early 21st century; in 1992, Japan participated in the peace preserving movement of the United Nations in Cambodia柬埔寨 and sent 600 members of the self-defense force to help with the job of maintaining peace. This showed that Japan was an important force in shaping and affecting the international circumstance and this was a characteristic as a power.
In the educational aspect, a high academic standard made Japan to be regarded as a power. An educational power referred to the high educational standard and the great achievement in the academic development. Undeniably, Japan fulfilled the above standards in the educational aspect. Educationally, Japan implemented the 9-year universal education since the establishment of School Education Law學校教育法in 1947. Also, the Japanese government continuously invested huge sum of expenditure on education. As a result, the high school enrolment rate reached to 97% in 1999; university enrolment rate in 2000 amounted to 49.1% and was leading the world. Apart from that, the academic standard of Japan was developing in an affluent way. Universities such as the University of Tokyo東京大學 and Kyoto University京都大學 were world-renowned. Moreover, Japan produced a lot of academic dissertations and she ranked second in the market both before and after 2000. Furthermore, there were 9 Japanese scholars winning the Nobel Prize諾貝爾獎 within 1950-2000. She was the country with most prizes apart from the Western countries. This reflected her academic standard was the best in Asia and could compete with that of the West. This showed that the high educational and academic standards made Japan to be regarded as a power by the world.
Culturally, Japan’s great influential power on culture could reflect her status as a power. A cultural power referred to a country which could not only preserve her own unique characteristics, but could also spread her culture to other countries and affected their development. Japan, in the second half of the 20th century, could fulfill the above standard. Japan was successful in preserving her own culture. For instance, Japan traditional custom ‘Kimono’ 和服 could be preserved even it failed to match the characteristics of a modern industrial society. People still wear it in traditional festivals. Moreover, some unique culture of Japan was exported to other countries and this greatly affected their cultural development. For instance, the food culture of sushi壽司 and ramen拉麵 was found in the nearby Asian countries. People could have a taste on them in the major cities in the world as well. Furthermore, the animation and entertainment culture influenced the entire world as well. For example, animations like Doraemon叮噹 and Captain Tsubasa足球小將 were very popular in the globe. These examples could reflect the strong cultural influence of Japan. She contributed a lot in shaping the cultural development of the world. This showed that she could be regarded as a power in the cultural aspect.
To sum up, Japan could be regarded as a power for her hard power such as economic and military strength. She could also achieve the status for her soft power in the political, educational and cultural aspects. Therefore, she deserved to be regarded as a power in the late 20th century.
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