Unipolarity
In terms of power dynamics, nipolarity refers to a situation when the majority of the military, economic, and cultural sway is held by one state.
Three characteristics, according to Nuno P. Monteiro, an assistant professor of political science at Yale University:
- Instead of being an empire, unipolarity is an interstate system. Robert Jervis of Columbia University, who contends that "unipolarity implies the presence of numerous juridically equal non-states, something that an empire forbids," is cited by Monteiro to support his claim. Daniel Nexon and Thomas Wright, who claim that "in empires, inter-societal divide-and-rule techniques supplant interstate balance-of-power dynamics," are used by Monteiro to further emphasise this point.
- The anarchy of unipolarity. The incomplete power superiority of the unipole leads to anarchy. Monteiro quotes Kenneth Waltz from Columbia University in support of his claim that a big power cannot "exert a positive control everywhere in the world." As a result, less powerful nations are free to pursue their prefered policies without interference from the unipole. One distinction between unipolar and hegemonic regimes is the unipole's constraints on power projection.
- In unipolar systems, there is only one big power and no rivalry. The international system is no longer unipolar if a rival appears. According to Kenneth Waltz, the United States is the only "pole" with really global interests.
The international system following the Cold War is unipolar: Nearly half of all military spending worldwide is spent by the United States, which also has an unrivalled ability to project power globally and a blue-water navy that is superior to all others put together. It also has a chance to launch a spectacular nuclear first strike against its longtime foe, Russia.
Because it "favours the absence of war among great powers and comparatively low levels of competition for prestige or security for two reasons: restige competition among great powers," according to William Wohlforth, the Daniel Webster Professor of Government at Dartmouth College, unipolarity is peaceful.
The international system following the Cold War is unipolar: Nearly half of all military spending worldwide is spent by the United States, which also has an unrivalled ability to project power globally and a blue-water navy that is superior to all others put together. It also has a chance to launch a spectacular nuclear first strike against its longtime foe, Russia.
0 Comments