political science chapter 3
notes class 12
Answers
about gaining power. In world politics, countries and groups of countries are engaged in constantly trying to gain and retain power.
It is important to understand the distribution of power among the countries of the world in order to understand world politics.
During the Cold War Era, there were two superpowers, the US and the USSR. But after the disintegration of USSR, only a single power was left i.e. the US.
The international system dominated by a sole superpower or hyper-power is sometimes called a ‘unipolar system’.
Hegemony as Hard Power
Hegemony relates to the relations, patterns and balances of military capability between states.
The base of US power lies in the overwhelming superiority of its military power. It is both absolute and relative.
The military dominance of the US is not just based on higher military spending but on a qualitative gap.
But still, the US invasion of Iraq reveals weakness of American power as it was not able to force the Iraqi people into submitting to the occupation forces of the US-led coalition.
Hegemony as Structural Power
The idea behind this type of hegemony is that an open world economy requires a hegemon or dominant power to support its creation and existence.
In this sense, hegemony is reflected in the role played by the US in providing global public goods. The best examples of global public goods are Sea-Lanes of Communication (SLOCs), Internet, roads, etc.
The economic preponderance of the US is inseparable from its structural power, which is the power to shape the global economy in a particular way.
Another example of the structural power of the US is the academic degree called the Masters in Business Administration (MBA). The idea of teaching skills for business is uniquely American.
Hegemony as Soft Power
In this type of hegemony, it implies class ascendancy in the social, political and particularly ideological spheres.
It suggests that a dominant power not only possess military power but also ideological resources to shape the behaviour of competing and lesser powers.
The US predominance in the world is based not only on its military power and economic powers but on its cultural presence.
During the Cold War, the US scored notable victories in the area of structural power and soft power rather than hard power.
Overcoming the Hegemony
It is important to understand that there is no single power to balance the US military. There are various strategies which can be helpful to overcome the hegemony.
According to the Bandwagon Strategy, it is suggested that instead of engaging in activities opposed to the hegemonic power, it is advisable to extract benefits by operating within the hegemonic system.
Hide Strategy implies staying as far removed from the dominant power as possible. China, Russia and the European Union are many examples of this behaviour.
Another belief is that resistance to American hegemony may come from non-state actors rather than other states. It is believed that challenges to US hegemony will come from a combination of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), social movements and public opinion.
FACTS THAT MATTER
1. America refers to the United States of America. It covers two continents—the North and the South America, the US is only one of the countries of the continent which is a symbol of US hegemony.
2. After the disintegration of USSR in 1991, the first instance of US hegemony came into observation through Operation Desert Storm by the UN during first Gulf War to retreat Iraqi forces from Kuwait. This operation was dominated and won by the US due to vast technological gap between the US military capability and other states.
3. William Jefferson (Bill) Clinton, the newly elected President of the US in 1992 and again
in 1996, focused on soft issues like democracy promotions, climate change and world trade rather than of military power and security. .
4. The above mentioned policies of the US were contradicted in response to Yugoslavian action against predominant Albanian population in Kosovo by targeting bombards through Operation Infinite against Al-Qaeda in response to the bombings of US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, Dar-es-Salaam and Tanzania in 1998.
Strategy and to hide respectively.