The great power competition (GPC) is a concept in international relations that describes the intensifying rivalry between dominant global powers, primarily the United States, China, and Russia, as they seek to shape the international order and secure strategic influence. While the phenomenon of GPC dates back to the late 4th millennium BC, the modern construct was dormant after the Cold War (1945–1991). It returned to prominence in the late 2010s, with the 2017 US National Security Strategy (NSS) formally recognizing it and shifting strategic focus from counterterrorism to a sustained contest with near-peer competitors.
The mechanism of GPC involves a mixture of hard and soft power tools across multiple domains, including diplomacy, military posture, economic policy, and technology leadership. The rivalry is often over positional disputes concerning status and hierarchy in the international system, manifesting through naval expansion and contested access to critical trade routes like the South China Sea and Strait of Malacca.
The concept connects to the historical idea of the balance of power and the challenge of power transitions between a dominant state and a rising one. The US National Defense Strategy asserts that the central challenge is the reemergence of long-term competition by "revisionist powers". For an informed reader, it is important to note that India is considered a regional great power in the Indo-Pacific, making it a key actor in the geopolitical dynamics of GPC.
The application of the concept has changed recently in US policy: while the 2022 Biden NSS maintained the focus on superpower competition, a subsequent US NSS, published in December 2025, reportedly departed from the explicit focus on GPC as the guiding principle. This shift reframed the relationship with China almost exclusively in economic terms and elevated the Western Hemisphere as a higher priority.