scholarly journals Taking power seriously – A holistic approach to assessing the international distribution of power

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 37-56
Author(s):  
Anita Faust ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
National Security ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
World Order ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The Us ◽  
International Distribution ◽  
Distribution Of Power

The literature of international relations and political geography agrees that world order is in transition. Some claim that power is shifting east, others argue that American leadership is renewing, still others think that a post-polar world is emerging. Despite the debate, no principled approach to assessing the distribution of power has been proposed. Arguments regarding the evolution of world order have come up against the usual stumbling blocks of measuring power. Relying on the meta-analysis of the general definitions of power, a theoretical framework is derived, identifying factors that turn passive strengths into dynamic power. Putting theory to test, the practical notion of power is provided based on the content analysis of the national security strategies of the US issued in the post-Cold War period. The factors identified in the two analyses overlap significantly. A holistic approach is proposed using the systemic qualities that distinguish power from strengths and resources.

A Research Agenda for the Study of Peaceful Change in World Politics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Welch Larson ◽  
T.V. Paul ◽  
Harold A. Trinkunas ◽  
Anders Wivel ◽  
Ralf Emmers
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
World Order ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Mechanisms Of Change ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Conceptual Clarity ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Made In

This concluding chapter offers a summary and evaluation of the key ideas contained in the chapters of this Handbook. The chapter discusses peaceful change in terms of conceptual clarity; historical evolution of scholarship in the area, especially the interwar, Cold War, and post–Cold War era efforts at analyzing the concepts; and the policy innovations in this realm. This is followed by an evaluation of the key umbrella theories of international relations—realism, liberalism, and constructivism—and how they approach peaceful change. Some important sources and mechanisms of change are analyzed. This is followed by discussion of the policy contributions of selected great and rising powers toward peaceful change. The chapter then offers a summary of contributions and progress that various regions have made in the area of peaceful change. It concludes with some ideas for future research while highlighting the significance of the subject matter for international relations and the world order.

scholarly journals Germany, the United States, and Future Core Conflict

1995 ◽  
pp. 445-482
Author(s):  
Brigitte Schulz
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
World Order ◽  
The United States ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
New Era ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Common ◽  
Will Power ◽  
The Cold War

With the end of the Cold War, much attention has been paid to the nature of the emerging new world order. By what criteria will power and influence be measured in this new era? Who will be the winners and losers? What types of allegiances will develop? Or is Francis Fukuyama's argument correct that, with the collapse of communism, we have reached the "...endpoint of man's ideological evolution" and thus "the end of history". Unlike Marx, who saw socialism at the end of humanity's arduous journey, Fukuyama tells us that the search is off because we have already arrived at our evolutionary destination: liberal capitalism...Other analysts envision less optimistic scenarios...One of the most popular scenarios over the past few years has been to anticipate growing tensions between the three main core powers: the US, Germany, and Japan... The first task of this paper, then, is to look at Germany within the context of the radically altered post-Cold War period... We argue that Germany, based on a multitude of factors which will be outlined below, is not now, nor will it ever become in the foreseeable future, a global hegemon... Indeed, as will be asserted in the second part of this paper, Germany will enter into a close alliance with the United States to form a reinvigorated trans-Atlantic marriage in which the common bonds of "culture and civilization" will replace a virulent anti-communism as the common vow.

scholarly journals Global History and International Relations:

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anelise Freitas Pereira Gondar ◽  
Aline Duarte da Graça Rizzo
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Latin American ◽  
International System ◽  
World Order ◽  
Global History ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Basic Assumptions ◽  
American Perspective ◽  
Definition Of

The Post-Cold War world order fueled discussions in the field of Humanities on theoretical and methodological resources in the very attempt to understand and explain the increasingly multi-polarized and complex international system. While considering the field of History — especially in its attempt to theoretically and methodologically cross borders — and while being active in the field of International Relations, we see possibilities of fruitful encounters between both areas of research, particularly when it comes to recent discussions on what came to be called in the 1990s “global history”. The article initially presents a conceptual definition of global history; then moves on to underpin its claim that History and IR areentangled disciplines that, despite different theoretical points of departure, not only share similar basic assumptions (state-centrism and the Western intellectual framework of thought) but also have been sharing similar intellectual preoccupations. In the third part, we explore possibilities of writing global history from the Latin-American perspective by discussing three recent contributions to the field. Finally, the text briefly enunciates possibilities of mutual enlightenment between the disciplinary fields of History and IR based on the idea of Global IR.

After the Cold War: Wilsonianism Resurgent?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Smith
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
National Security ◽  
World Order ◽  
The United States ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Selective Approach ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter examines the United States's Wilsonianism in the post-Cold War era, first under George H. W. Bush and then under Bill Clinton. It considers how Bush, who became president as the Soviet Union was disintegrating and its leaders were looking for a new framework of understanding with the West, used Wilsonianism to address the question of establishing a world order favorable to American national security. It also discusses various Bush initiatives that were designed to establish a new world order after the cold war, Clinton's selective approach to liberal democratic internationalism, the effects of liberal economic practices on American national security, and the link between nationalism and liberal democracy. Finally, it assesses some of the challenges involved in the United States' efforts to bring about stable constitutional governance in many parts of the world.

scholarly journals The Beginning of the Post-modern Geopolitical Epoch and the Peculiarities of the System of Contemporary International Relations in the 21st Century

2019 ◽  
pp. 111-118
Author(s):  
George Zviadadze
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
21St Century ◽  
International System ◽  
World Order ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Order System ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The World ◽  
Characteristic Features

After transformation of unipolarity and reformatting world order system, a question been forwarded on how new system is to be founded on. As it is known classical international relations system developed since Westphalia Agreement of 1648 has been composed mainly by the state as key actors of international politics. The system has been developed two type of regimes: soft bipolarity and balance of power interchanged in several period of time consequently. One of the characteristic features of globalization is a fundamental change of the international system and world order. It differs from the world of post-Cold War period with the stance of different actors of international relations on each other as well as with the forms of sharing power and that of interconnections. In that context there were four phases of the international relations systems: the system of Westphalia, the system of Vienna, the system of Versailles, the system of Yalta-Potsdam and later international relations were transformed into bipolarity one. Since demolishing classical Cold War order and entering into new epoch of anarchic scenario, the states as key actors of the system have been diminishing in favour of so-called “nonstate actors”. However, in the international system of the 21st century, the nationstate still has particular functions. It represents the dominant element of the world politics which can influence the behaviour of the population and non-state actors.

scholarly journals The Future of World Order: Building a Community of Common Destiny

2017 ◽  
Vol 03 (02) ◽  
pp. 159-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Yakunin
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
World Order ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Order ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Common Destiny

This article briefly examines the political and ideological aspects of Western countries’ post-Cold War approach to the world order. The Western triumph in the Cold War is generally attributed to reasons that are largely erroneous. The ongoing crises in international relations reveal structural inconsistencies, which have been present in the United States’ foreign strategy since the collapse of the Soviet Union and have contributed to the subsequent erosion of the global order. The article analyzes the new trends of globalization resulting from the unexpected victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It concludes that Russia and China have now largely recognized Washington’s failure to establish a unipolar world system and to legitimize it through various political and media mechanisms and techniques. It suggests that it is only through the solidary development that both China and Russia are currently championing with their recent grand integration initiatives that a more successful and sustainable multipolar world benefiting every nation on the planet can be built and maintained.

Security Studies and the end of the Cold War

1995 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
National Security ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Military Threat ◽  
The World ◽  
The Cold War

The end of the cold war has generated numerous reflections on the nature of the world in its aftermath. The reduced military threat to American security has triggered proposals for expanding the concept of national security to include nonmilitary threats to national well-being. Some go further and call for a fundamental reexamination of the concepts, theories, and assumptions used to analyze security problems. In order to lay the groundwork for such a reexamination, the emergence and evolution of security studies as a subfield of international relations is surveyed, the adequacy of the field for coping with the post—cold war world is assessed, and proposals for the future of security studies are discussed. It is argued that a strong case can be made for reintegration of security studies with the study of international politics and foreign policy.

Geopolitics of a changing world order: US strategy and the scramble for the Eurasian Heartland

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-180
Author(s):  
Amr G. E. Sabet
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Middle East ◽  
World Order ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
Arab Region ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The Us ◽  
Underlying Causes

Geopolitics is about power and hegemony, with its dual components of domination and consent. Controlling space requires dominion. Organizing and administering space at reasonable costs demands authority and acquiescence. This conceptualization of geopolitics pertains to the underlying causes behind current instabilities in the Middle East as they link with broader geopolitical and strategic interests of great powers, particularly the US. Geopolitical theory helps offer deeper insights into how American decision makers are likely to think and act in the post-Cold War era, and in explaining, understanding, and possibly reading and forming expectations about US policies. It allows for more clarity in observing continuities in US strategy and in shaping expectations about tactics and policies in the service of its durable strategic international and global interests. The main argument of this paper is that the American ruling establishment, together with its supporting intellectual and military structures, persists in observing the emerging global venture geopolitically. In those terms much of what is occurring in the Arab region, more specifically in countries such as Syria among others, can be understood. It is also in those terms that one can conceptualize the American approach toward regional and world powers such as Iran, China and Russia.

Contesting hegemons: US–French relations in the ‘New World Order’

2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMES PETRAS ◽  
MORRIS MORLEY
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
New World ◽  
World Order ◽  
New World Order ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Liberal Economy ◽  
Dominant State ◽  
Sense Of Power

International relations is now marked by a distinct bias against both realism and materialism. This, allied to the currently fashionable notion that in a globalized, liberal economy cooperation rather than competition is the norm, has meant that few scholars have been concerned to analyse the sources of rivalry between the various capitalist states. This article suggests that a version of realism informed by a keen sense of power and hierarchy remains essential if we are to understand the dynamics of US foreign policy in the post-Cold War period. The case study deployed here revolves around the various attempts made by one of America's allies to contest Washington's vision of a ‘new world order’. The French challenge assumed many forms but in the end was seen off by the dominant state; the outcome only confirming US preponderance and guaranteeing its hegemonic position into the 21st century.

scholarly journals Will the Pandemic Crisis Covid-19 be a Turning Point in Changing and Bringing a New World Order?

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 488-503
Author(s):  
Ali Madouni
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
New World ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
World Order ◽  
The United States ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
New World Order ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Core Concepts

Abstract. As the new pandemic broke out in almost the globe, part of analysts, observers and politicians hurried to talk early about the major changes that may be caused by the new spreading pandemic in all domains ; specifically at the political and economic fields, locally and internationally ; in an attempt to bring to the surface a profound perspective on the new world transformations and division. The present article main aim is to approach and investigate the global situation before, during and after the pandemic crisis of 2019 ; in all world continents, from the WWI until the Post Cold War era, not only that, but also to determine the pandemic crisis’s effects and consequences in all sectors as well as on the international actors of the international relations , additionally ; to its impacts on some core concepts in Politics. Through this inductive paper we ; also present an extrapolation of the current world situation in the light of new-traditional struggle between the two great powers in the world : China and the United States ; beside the sweeping explanations of the pandemic outbreak through some theories.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document