Why these 5 countries for great powers?

Players can choose from the United States of America, The European Union, The Russian Federation, The People’s Republic of China, or Japan.

These countries were chosen because of their GDP, Military size, population and historical influence in the world. Today, many of these are obviously stronger candidates for Great Power Competition because of their active coverage and roles on the world stage, namely the US, China and Russia. However, I’ve included the EU and Japan because of their own economic clout, historical influence, and the potential for dramatic changes in their international engagement in the future. In order to improve playability while portraying the nature of the different countries, they all differ greatly in their starting traits in the game, though arguably in disproportionatly from their positions today.