the international system after the end of the CW: stability or disorder Flashcards
great power definition
“those states that are held capable of shared responsibility for the management of the international order by virtue of their military and economic influence” (A.Best, etc)
international system def
organization of the international system by GP (coop, alliances, multilateralism)
the ‘unipolar’ moment + who coined it
Krauthammer, 1990
- eco power
- military power
- soft power
- diplomacy / alliances: system dominant
economic power from the unipolar moment
“hegemonic stability” (Kindleberger) ensures eco stability : 30% World GDP + USD dominant
military power from the unipolar
40% of the world military expenditures, dominant nuclear power
= “hyperpower” (Brzezinsky, Védrine) : had to organize the transition to a more multipolar system
American leadership
- George Bush (1988-1992) => “new world order” as end CW, intervention in Iraq
- Bill Clinton (1992-2000) = Balkans (possible to restore peace), arms control, NATO and EU enlargement => “indispensable nation”
- George W Bush (2000-2008) = ‘war on terror’ Afg + Iraq, increase in tension with Russia (Putin) => showed US had limits
‘war on terror’
seek out and stop terrorism as well as implementing action to deny financing or safe harbor to terrorists, after 11/09 attacks
concept “indispensable nation”
Madeleine Albright, secretary of state 1997
US decline factors
- “war fatigue”
- economic decline/ rise of emerging powers
- US/ China competition
- Multipolarity
“war fatigue”
interventions not really successful
=> “imperial overstretch” (Kennedy, 1987), military overreach : too many interventions to maintain its power => enter a phase of decline
‘Thucydides trap’
Allison, 2017
when a rising power challenges a ruling one
reveals what painful step they must take to avoid it as a trade conflict could lead to a all-out war
Rising of emerging power / Economic decline
- BRICS,
“The West and The Rest” (Ferguson, 2011): dominance decreasing - economic decline : downturn under Obama, world eco crisis 2008
decline of the American leadership
- Barack Obama (2008-2016) => US strategic disengagement : eco crisis recovery, withdrawal from Iraq, and from Afghanistan: growing strength of the Talibans, engagement in HR, Ch, Russia = co-op foreign policy
- Donald Trump (2016-2020) = US selfishness: trade war, support anti-Chinese countries (Beef tongue + Belt and Road Initiative)
multilateral frameworks (collective security, globalization)
- BW institutions: universal but dom by West, pillar of the eco system
- UN : UNSC - use of force, peacekeeping op
- G7: eco + pol role
- GATT => WTO
- G20 : to stabilize eco relations
- BRICS rebalance power of the West
- regional powers : blockade
Western of universal values?
- growing importance of nationalism / populism / authoritarianism : challenge to the hegemony of lib values
- religion (islamism, “clash of civilizations” Huntington: different religious systems)
