This map illustrates how major powers project influence beyond their borders, shaping regions through military presence, economic ties, political pressure, and historical legacy. Rather than a neat division of territory, spheres of influence overlap, compete, and shift over time — most visibly where the interests of the United States, China, and Russia intersect.

Viewed geographically, the map shows how proximity, access to sea lanes, energy resources, and demographic gravity constrain and enable power. Buffer states, contested regions, and peripheral allies emerge as pressure points in the international system. As global consensus weakens and competition intensifies, these spheres of influence increasingly define the fault lines along which future crises and conflicts are likely to develop.