58027024 Class12 Political Science 2 World Politics Unit03 NCERT TextBook English Edition

OVERVIEWWe have seen that the end of ColdWar left the US without anyserious rival in the world. The erasince then has been described asa period of US dominance or aunipolar world. In this chapter, wetry to understand the nature,extent and limits of thisdominance. We begin by narratingthe story of the rise of the newworld order from the First GulfWar to the US-led invasion of Iraq.We then pause to understand thenature of US domination with thehelp of the concept of ‘hegemony’.After exploring the political,economic and cultural aspects ofUS hegemony, we assess India’spolicy options in dealing with theUS. Finally, we turn to see if thereare challenges to this hegemonyand whether it can be overcome.

Chapter 3

US Hegemony in World Politics

The attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Centre inNew York on 11 September 2001 has been seen as awatershed event in contemporary history.

Contemporary World Politics32

forced to study a subject that hehas no interest in. In contrast,Ayesha has lost her leg and islucky to be alive. How can we evendiscuss their problems in the samebreath? We can, and must, do so.As we shall see in this chapter, allthree have been, in different ways,affected by US hegemony. We willmeet Ayesha, Jabu and Andreiagain. But let us first understandhow US hegemony began and howit operates in the world today.

We will follow the popularusage of the word ‘America’ torefer to the United States ofAmerica. But it may be useful toremind ourselves that theexpression America covers the twocontinents of North and SouthAmerica and that the US is onlyone of the countries of theAmerican continent. Thus, the useof the word America solely for theUS is already a sign of the UShegemony that we seek tounderstand in this chapter.

BEGINNING OF THE ‘NEW

WORLD ORDER’The sudden collapse of the SovietUnion took everyone by surprise.While one of the two superpowersceased to exist, the other remainedwith all its powers intact, evenenhanced. Thus, it would appearthat the US hegemony began in1991 after Soviet powerdisappeared from the internationalscene. This is largely correct, butwe need to keep in mind two ridersto this. First, as we shall see in this

AYESHA, JABU AND ANDREI

Ayesha was doing very well in herstudies at a high school in theoutskirts of Baghdad, and wasplanning to study medicine inuniversity. She lost a leg in 2003when a missile slammed into anair raid shelter in which she washiding with her friends. Now sheis learning to walk all over again.She still plans to become a doctor,but only after the foreign armiesleave her country.

Jabu is a talented young artistwho lives in Durban, South Africa.His paintings are heavilyinfluenced by traditional tribal artforms. He wants to go to art schooland later open his own studio.However, his father wants him tostudy for an MBA and then jointhe family business. The businessis not doing too well; Jabu’s fatherfeels that with an MBA degree,Jabu will be able to make thefamily business profitable.

Andrei is a young man livingin Perth, Australia. His parents areimmigrants from Russia. Hismother gets very angry every timeAndrei puts on blue jeans to go tochurch. She wants him to lookrespectable in church. Andrei tellshis mother that jeans are “cool”,that they give him the sense offreedom. Andrei’s father remindshis wife how they too used to wearjeans when they were youngstersin Leningrad, and for the samereason that their son now invokes.

Andrei has had an argumentwith his mother. Jabu may be

I’m glad I did not optfor the Sciencesubjects. Or else I toowould have been avictim of UShegemony. Can youthink how and why?

US Hegemony in World Politics 33

chapter, some aspects of UShegemony did not emerge in 1991but in fact go back to the end ofthe Second World War in 1945.Second, the US did not startbehaving like a hegemonic powerright from 1991; it became clearmuch later that the world was infact living in a period of hegemony.Let us therefore look at thisprocess by which US hegemonygot established more closely.

In August 1990, Iraq invadedKuwait, rapidly occupying andsubsequently annexing it. After a

series of diplomatic attempts failedat convincing Iraq to quit itsaggression, the United Nationsmandated the liberation of Kuwaitby force. For the UN, this was adramatic decision after years ofdeadlock during the Cold War. TheUS President George H.W. Bushhailed the emergence of a ‘newworld order’.

A massive coalition force of660,000 troops from 34 countriesfought against Iraq and defeatedit in what came to be known asthe First Gulf War. However, the

This picture of burned and broken vehicles was taken on the ‘Highway of Death’, a road between Kuwait andBasra, on which the retreating Iraqi army was attacked by American aircraft during the First Gulf War in February1991. Some commentators have suggested that the US forces deliberately bombed this stretch of highway wherefleeing and ‘out of combat’ Iraqi soldiers were stuck in a frenzied traffic jam and that the victims included Kuwaitiprisoners and hostages and Palestinian civilian refugees. Many observers have called it a ‘war crime’ and aviolation of the Geneva Convention.


UN operation, which was called‘Operation Desert Storm’, wasoverwhelmingly American. AnAmerican general, NormanSchwarzkopf, led the UN coalitionand nearly 75 per cent of thecoalition forces were from the US.Although the Iraqi President,Saddam Hussein, had promised“the mother of all battles”, theIraqi forces were quickly defeatedand forced to withdraw fromKuwait.

The First Gulf War revealedthe vast technological gap that hadopened up between the US militarycapability and that of other states.The highly publicised use of so-called ‘smart bombs’ by the US ledsome observers to call this a‘computer war’. Widespreadtelevision coverage also made it a‘video game war’, with viewersaround the world watching thedestruction of Iraqi forces live onTV in the comfort of their livingrooms.

Incredibly, the US mayactually have made a profit fromthe war. According to manyreports, the US received moremoney from countries likeGermany, Japan and SaudiArabia than it had spent on thewar.

THE CLINTON YEARS

Despite winning the First Gulf War,George H.W. Bush lost the USpresidential elections of 1992 toWilliam Jefferson (Bill) Clinton ofthe Democratic Party, who had

campaigned on domestic ratherthan foreign policy issues. BillClinton won again in 1996 andthus remained the president of theUS for eight years. During theClinton years, it often seemed thatthe US had withdrawn into itsinternal affairs and was not fullyengaged in world politics. Inforeign policy, the Clintongovernment tended to focus on‘soft issues’ like democracypromotion, climate change andworld trade rather than on the‘hard politics’ of military power andsecurity.

Nevertheless, the US onoccasion did show its readiness touse military power even during theClinton years. The most importantepisode occurred in 1999, inresponse to Yugoslavian actionsagainst the predominantlyAlbanian population in theprovince of Kosovo. The air forcesof the NATO countries, led by theUS, bombarded targets aroundYugoslavia for well over twomonths, forcing the downfall ofthe government of SlobodanMilosevic and the stationing of aNATO force in Kosovo.

Another significant US militaryaction during the Clinton years wasin response to the bombing of theUS embassies in Nairobi, Kenyaand Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania in1998. These bombings wereattributed to Al-Qaeda, a terroristorganisation strongly influenced byextremist Islamist ideas. Within afew days of this bombing, PresidentClinton ordered Operation Infinite

Is it true that the US hasnever fought a war onits own land? Doesn’tthat make it easy forAmericans to get intomiliray adventures?


Reach, a series of cruise missilestrikes on Al-Qaeda terrorist targetsin Sudan and Afghanistan. The USdid not bother about the UNsanction or provisions ofinternational law in this regard. Itwas alleged that some of the targetswere civilian facilities unconnectedto terrorism. In retrospect, this wasmerely the beginning.

9/11 AND THE ‘GLOBAL

WAR ON TERROR’On 11 September 2001, nineteenhijackers hailing from a numberof Arab countries took control offour American commercial aircraftshortly after takeoff and flew theminto important buildings in theUS. One airliner each crashed intothe North and South Towers of theWorld Trade Centre in New York.A third aircraft crashed into thePentagon building in Arlington,Virginia, where the US DefenceDepartment is headquartered.The fourth aircraft, presumablybound for the Capitol building ofthe US Congress, came down in afield in Pennsylvania. The attackshave come to be known as “9/11”.(In America the convention is to

This is ridiculous!Does it meanthat Sri Lankacan drop amissile on Paris ifit suspects thatsome of the LTTEmilitants arehiding there?

This is how The New York Times reported 9/11 in its edition thefollowing morning.

write the month first, followed bythe date; hence the short form ‘9/11’ instead of ‘11/9’ as we wouldwrite in India).

The attacks killed nearly threethousand persons. In terms of theirshocking effect on Americans, theyhave been compared to the Britishburning of Washington, DC in 1814and the Japanese attack on PearlHarbour in 1941. However, in termsof loss of life, 9/11 was the most


severe attack on US soil since thefounding of the country in 1776.

The US response to 9/11 wasswift and ferocious. Clinton hadbeen succeeded in the USpresidency by George W. Bushof the Republican Party, son ofthe earlier President George H.W. Bush. Unlike Clinton, Bushhad a much harder view of USinterests and of the means bywhich to advance them. As a partof its ‘Global War on Terror’, theUS launched ‘OperationEnduring Freedom’ against allthose suspected to be behindthis attack, mainly Al-Qaeda andthe Taliban regime inAfghanistan. The Taliban regimewas easily overthrown, butremnants of the Taliban and Al-

Qaeda have remained potent, asis clear from the number ofterrorist attacks launched bythem against Western targetssince.

The US forces made arrestsall over the world, often withoutthe knowledge of the governmentof the persons being arrested,transported these personsacross countries and detainedthem in secret prisons. Some ofthem were brought toGuantanamo Bay, a US Navalbase in Cuba, where theprisoners did not enjoy theprotection of international law orthe law of their own country orthat of the US. Even the UNrepresentatives were not allowedto meet these prisoners.

Do they also havepolitical dynasties inthe US? Or was this theonly exception?

Suppose you are the Secretary of State in the US (their equivalent of our Minister of External Affairs).How would you react in a press conference to these cartoons?

© A

ndy

Sing

er,

Ca

gle

Ca

rtoon

s In

c.

© A

ndy

Sing

er,

Ca

gle

Ca

rtoon

s In

c.


THE IRAQ INVASION

On 19 March 2003, the USlaunched its invasion of Iraq underthe codename ‘Operation IraqiFreedom’. More than forty othercountries joined in the US-led‘coalition of the willing’ after the UNrefused to give its mandate to theinvasion. The ostensible purpose ofthe invasion was to prevent Iraqfrom developing weapons of massdestruction (WMD). Since noevidence of WMD has beenunearthed in Iraq, it is speculatedthat the invasion was motivated byother objectives, such as controllingIraqi oilfields and installing a regimefriendly to the US.

Although the government ofSaddam Hussein fell swiftly, theUS has not been able to ‘pacify’Iraq. Instead, a full-fledgedinsurgency against US occupationwas ignited in Iraq. While the UShas lost over 3,000 militarypersonnel in the war, Iraqicasualties are very much higher.It is conservatively estimated that50,000 Iraqi civilians have beenkilled since the US-led invasion.It is now widely recognised thatthe US invasion of Iraq was, insome crucial respects, both amilitary and political failure.

[Map of Post-Soviet Countries]

WHAT DOES HEGEMONY

MEAN?Politics is about power. Just asindividuals want to gain andretain power, groups too want togain and retain power. Weroutinely talk of someonebecoming powerful or someonedoing something for power. In thecase of world politics too,countries and groups of countriesare engaged in constantly tryingto gain and retain power. Thispower is in the form of militarydomination, economic power,political clout and culturalsuperiority.

List the post-Cold Warconflicts/warsin which theUS played acritical role.

Soldier World Map © Ares, Cagle Cartoons Inc.


is called a ‘unipolar’ system. Thisappears to be a misapplication ofthe idea of ‘pole’ derived fromphysics. It may be more appropriateto describe an international systemwith only one centre of power bythe term ‘hegemony’.

We can identify three verydifferent understandings of whathegemony is. Let us examine eachof these meanings of hegemonyand relate them to contemporaryinternational politics.

HEGEMONY AS HARD

POWER

The roots of the word hegemonylie in classical Greek. The wordimplies the leadership orpredominance of one state, andwas originally used to denote thepreponderant position of Athensvis-à-vis the other city-states ofancient Greece. Thus, the firstmeaning of hegemony relates to therelations, patterns and balances ofmilitary capability between states.It is this notion of hegemony asmilitary preponderance that isespecially germane to the currentposition and role of the US in worldpolitics. Do you remember Ayesha,who lost her leg in an Americanmissile attack? It is hard powerhegemony that has brokenAyesha’s body, if not her spirit.

The bedrock of contemporaryUS power lies in the overwhelmingsuperiority of its military power.American military dominancetoday is both absolute andrelative. In absolute terms, the US

Therefore, if we wanted tounderstand world politics, it isnecessary that we understand thedistribution of power among thecountries of the world. Forinstance, during the years of theCold War (1945-91) power wasdivided between the two groups ofcountries, and the US and theSoviet Union represented the two‘camps’ or centres of power ininternational politics during thatperiod. The collapse of the SovietUnion left the world with only asingle power, the United Statesof America. Sometimes, theinternational system dominated bya sole superpower, or hyper-power,

Why use suchcomplicated wordslike hegemony? Inmy town they call itdadagiri. Isn’t thatbetter?

Entitled ‘Under US Thumb’, this cartoon captures ourcommonsensical understanding of what hegemony means.What does this cartoon say about the nature of US hegemony?Which part of the world is the cartoonist talking about?

© A

ngel

Bol

iga

n, C

agl

e C

arto

ons

Inc.


today has military capabilitiesthat can reach any point on theplanet accurately, lethally and inreal time, thereby crippling theadversary while its own forces aresheltered to the maximum extentpossible from the dangers of war.

But even more awesome thanthe absolute capabilities of the USis the fact that no other powertoday can remotely match them.The US today spends more on itsmilitary capability than thenext 12 powers combined.Furthermore, a large chunk of thePentagon’s budget goes intomilitary research and development,or, in other words, technology.Thus, the military dominance ofthe US is not just based on highermilitary spending, but on aqualitative gap, a technological

chasm that no other power can atpresent conceivably span.

Undoubtedly, the US invasionof Iraq reveals several Americanvulnerabilities. The US has notbeen able to force the Iraqi peopleinto submitting to the occupationforces of the US-led coalition. Tofully understand the nature ofAmerican weakness, however, weneed to have a historicalperspective. Imperial powersthrough history have usedmilitary forces to accomplish onlyfour tasks: to conquer, deter,punish and police. As the Iraqinvasion shows, the Americancapacity to conquer is formidable.Similarly, the US capability todeter and to punish is self-evident.Where US military capability hasthus far been shown to have

Most armed forcesin the world dividetheir areas ofoperation intovarious‘commands’which areassigned todifferentcommanders. Thismap depicts theareas ofresponsibility of thefive Commands ofthe US armedforces. It showsthat thecommands of theUS military are notlimited to the areaof the UnitedStates; it extendsto include thewhole world. Whatdoes this map tellus about themilitary power ofthe US?

USSOUTHCOM

USNORTHCOM

USCENTCOM

USEUCOM

USPACOM

US COMMAND STRUCTURE

Source: http://www.army.mil/institution/organization/areaof_responsibility.jpg


serious weaknesses is in policingan occupied territory.

HEGEMONY AS STRUCTURAL

POWER

The second notion of hegemony isvery different from the first. Itemerges from a particularunderstanding of the worldeconomy. The basic idea is thatan open world economy requiresa hegemon or dominant power tosupport its creation andexistence. The hegemon must

possess both the ability and thedesire to establish certain normsfor order and must sustain theglobal structure. The hegemonusually does this to its ownadvantage but often to its relativedetriment, as its competitors takeadvantage of the openness of theworld economy without paying thecosts of maintaining its openness.

Hegemony in this secondsense is reflected in the roleplayed by the US in providingglobal public goods. By publicgoods we mean those goods thatcan be consumed by one personwithout reducing the amount ofthe good available for someoneelse. Fresh air and roads areexamples of public goods. In thecontext of the world economy, thebest examples of a global publicgood are sea-lanes ofcommunication (SLOCs), the searoutes commonly used bymerchant ships. Free trade in anopen world economy would notbe possible without open SLOCs.

The US today spends more on its military capability than the next 12powers combined. As you can see here, most of the other countriesthat are big military spenders are US friends and allies. Thus,balancing US power is not a feasible strategy today.

© A

res,

Ca

gle

Ca

rtoon

s In

c.

Dollar World


It is the naval power of thehegemon that underwrites thelaw of the sea and ensuresfreedom of navigation ininternational waters. Since thedecline of British naval powerafter the Second World War, themulti-oceanic US Navy hasplayed this role.

Another example of a globalpublic good is the Internet.Although it is seen today asmaking the virtual world of theWorld Wide Web possible, weshould not forget that the Internetis the direct outcome of a USmilitary research project thatbegan in 1950. Even today, theInternet relies on a global networkof satellites, most of which areowned by the US government.

As we know, the US is presentin all parts of the world, in all

sectors of the world economy andin all areas of technology. The USshare of the world economyremains an enormous 28 per cent.

The US also accounts for 15per cent of world trade, if intra-European Union trade is includedin world trade data. There is nota single sector of the worldeconomy in which an Americanfirm does not feature in the “topthree” list.

It is important to rememberthat the economic preponderanceof the US is inseparable from itsstructural power, which is thepower to shape the globaleconomy in a particular way. Afterall, the Bretton Woods system, setup by the US after the SecondWorld War, still constitutes thebasic structure of the worldeconomy. Thus, we can regard the

How can this countrybe so rich? I see somany poor peoplehere. Most of themare non-White.

The American economy is the largest in the world, but unlike in the sphere of military power,the US faces credible competitors in the world economy. This becomes even clearer if weconsider the world economy in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms as in the graphic on theright. PPP is what a nation’s currency actually buys in goods and services.


win the consent of dominatedclasses, by persuading thedominated classes to view theworld in a manner favourable to theascendancy of the dominant class.Adapted to the field of worldpolitics, this notion of hegemonysuggests that a dominant powerdeploys not only military power butalso ideological resources to shapethe behaviour of competing andlesser powers. The behaviour of theweaker countries is influenced inways that favour the interests ofthe most powerful country, inparticular its desire to remain pre-eminent. Consent, in other words,goes hand-in-hand with, and isoften more effective than, coercion.

The predominance of the US inthe world today is based not onlyon its military power and economicprowess, but also on its culturalpresence. Whether we choose torecognise the fact or not, all ideasof the good life and personalsuccess, most of the dreams ofindividuals and societies acrossthe globe, are dreams churned outby practices prevailing intwentieth-century America.America is the most seductive, andin this sense the most powerful,culture on earth. This attribute iscalled ‘soft power’: the ability topersuade rather than coerce. Overtime we get so used to hegemonythat we hardly notice it, any morethan we notice the rivers, birds,and trees around us.

You couldn’t have forgottenAndrei and his ‘cool’ pair of bluejeans. When his parents wereyoungsters in the Soviet Union,

World Bank, InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) and WorldTrade Organisation (WTO) as theproducts of American hegemony.

A classic example of thestructural power of the US is theacademic degree called theMaster’s in Business Administration(MBA). The idea that business isa profession that depends uponskills that can be taught in auniversity is uniquely American.The first business school in theworld, the Wharton School at theUniversity of Pennsylvania, wasestablished in 1881. The first MBAcourses were initiated around1900. The first MBA courseoutside the US was establishedonly in 1950. Today, there is nocountry in the world in which theMBA is not a prestigious academicdegree. This takes us back to ourSouth African friend Jabu.Structural hegemony explainswhy Jabu’s father is insisting thathis son gives up painting andstudies for the MBA instead.

HEGEMONY AS SOFT POWER

It would however be a mistake tosee US hegemony in purely militaryand economic terms withoutconsidering the ideological or thecultural dimension of UShegemony. This third sense ofhegemony is about the capacity to‘manufacture consent’. Here,hegemony implies classascendancy in the social, politicaland particularly ideologicalspheres. Hegemony arises whenthe dominant class or country can

If I had opted for theScience subjectsI would have to sit forthe entrance exams tomedical orengineering college.That would meancompeting with somany others who wishto become doctors orengineers so as to goto the US.


All these images are from Jakarta inIndonesia. Identify elements of UShegemony in each of thesephotographs. Can you identify similarelements on your way back fromschool to home?

blue jeans were the ultimatesymbol of ‘liberation’ for theirgeneration. Young men andwomen often spent over a year’ssalary to buy blue jeans fromforeign tourists on the blackmarket. Somehow, for an entireSoviet generation blue jeans cameto represent aspirations of the‘good life’ that were not availablein their own country.

During the Cold War, the USfound it difficult to score victoriesagainst the Soviet Union in therealm of hard power. It was in thearea of structural power and softpower that the US scored notablevictories. Although the Sovietcentrally-planned economyprovided an alternate model ofinternal economic organisation,the world economy throughoutthe Cold War years remained aworld capitalist economy. But itwas in the area of soft power thatthe US was ultimately triumphant.As the example of blue jeans in

That is strange!I never think of theUS when buyingjeans for myself.How can I still bea victim of UShegemony?


the Soviet Union clearly shows,the US was able to engineer agenerational divide in Sovietsociety on the basis of a culturalproduct.

CONSTRAINTS ON AMERICAN

POWER

History tells us that empiresdecline because they decay fromwithin. Similarly, the biggestconstraints to Americanhegemony lie within the heart ofhegemony itself. We can identifythree constraints on Americanpower. None of these constraintsseemed to operate in the yearsfollowing 9/11. However, it nowappears that all three of theseconstraints are slowly beginningto operate again.

The first constraint is theinstitutional architecture of theAmerican state itself. A system ofdivision of powers between the

three branches of governmentplaces significant brakes upon theunrestrained and immoderateexercise of America’s militarypower by the executive branch.

The second constraint onAmerican power is also domesticin nature, and stems from theopen nature of American society.Although the American massmedia may from time to timeimpose or promote a particularperspective on domestic publicopinion in the US, there isnevertheless a deep scepticismregarding the purposes andmethods of government inAmerican political culture. Thisfactor, in the long run, is a hugeconstraint on US military actionoverseas.

However, it is the thirdconstraint on the US that isperhaps the most important.There is only one organisation inthe international system that

These two photographs are from an exhibition on the Human Costs of the Iraq War by the American FriendsService Committee organised at the National Convention of the Democratic Party in 2004. To what extent doprotests like this constrain the US government?


could possibly moderate theexercise of American power today,and that is the North AtlanticTreaty Organisation (NATO). TheUS obviously has an enormousinterest in keeping the alliance ofdemocracies that follow themarket economies alive andtherefore it is possible that itsallies in the NATO will be able tomoderate the exercise of UShegemony.

INDIA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH

THE USDuring the Cold War years, Indiafound itself on the opposite sideof the divide from the US. India’sclosest friendship during thoseyears was with the Soviet Union.After the collapse of the SovietUnion, India suddenly found itselffriendless in an increasingly hostileinternational environment. However,these were also the years whenIndia decided to liberalise itseconomy and integrate it with theglobal economy. This policy andIndia’s impressive economicgrowth rates in recent years havemade the country an attractiveeconomic partner for a number ofcountries including the US.

It is important that we do notlose sight of the fact that two newfactors have emerged in Indo-USrelations in recent years. Thesefactors relate to the technologicaldimension and the role of theIndian-American diaspora.Indeed, these two factors are

interrelated. Consider thefollowing facts:

The US absorbs about 65 percent of India’s total exports inthe software sector.

35 per cent of the technicalstaff of Boeing is estimated tobe of Indian origin.

300,000 Indians work inSilicon Valley.

15 percent of all high-techstart-ups are by Indian-Americans.

Like all other countries, Indiatoo has to decide exactly what typeof relationship it wants with the USin this phase of global hegemony.The choices are not exactly easy.Within India, the debate seems tobe around three possible strategies.

Those Indian analysts who seeinternational politics largely interms of military power arefearful of the growingcloseness between India andthe US. They would prefer thatIndia maintains its aloofnessfrom Washington and focusesupon increasing its owncomprehensive national power.

Other analysts see the growingconvergence of interestsbetween the US and India as ahistoric opportunity for India.They advocate a strategy thatwould allow India to takeadvantage of US hegemonyand the mutual convergencesto establish the best possibleoptions for itself. Opposing theUS, they argue, is a futile

As soon as I say I amfrom India, they askme if I am acomputer engineer.That feels nice.

Collect newsclippings andarticles aboutthe recentIndo-US civilnuclear deal.Summarise theposition of thesupporters andopponents ofthe deal.


Here are three extracts from the speeches by the PrimeMinister and two opposition leaders during the debatein Lok Sabha on the Indo-US agreement on nuclearenergy. Are these three positions in some way linkedto the three strategies mentioned in the chapter?

Dr Manmohan Singh, Congress“Sir, I would respectfully urge this august House torecognise the changed mood of the world towardsIndia. This is not to say that power politics is a thing ofthe past; that there will never be any attempt to twistour arms. We will protect ourselves to ensure againstthe risks that are there. But it would be wrong for usnot to take advantage of the opportunities that arenow on the horizon. I sincerely believe that it is in theinterest of our country to have good relations with allthe major powers. I make no apology that we seekgood relations with the United States. The United Statesis a pre-eminent power.”

Shri Basu Deb Acharia, CPI(M)“Since Independence, we have been pursuingindependent foreign policy because of our nationalinterest. What have we seen in case of Iraq and incase of Iran? After the July statement, and when therewas voting in International Atomic Energy Agency, wefound that we sided with the United States of America. We supported the resolution moved by US and P 5. That was not expected before that. When we weretrying to bring gas from Iran via Pakistan which weneed, we supported America’s stand in regard to Iran. There we find that the independent foreign policy hasbeen affected.”

Maj. Gen. (Retd.) B. C. Khanduri, BJP“We have also to take note of the fact that today USis — whether we like it or not — the only super powerin this unipolar world. But at the same time, we mustalso remember that India is also emerging as a worldpower, and a super power. Therefore, we feel thatwe should have good relations with the USA in theinternational scenario, but it should not be at the costof our security.”

strategy that will only hurtIndia in the long run.

A third group of analystswould advocate that Indiashould take the lead inestablishing a coalition ofcountries from the developingworld. Over time, this coalitionwould become more powerfuland may succeed in weaningthe hegemon away from itsdominating ways.

India-US relations are perhapstoo complex to be managed by asingle strategy. India needs todevelop an appropriate mix offoreign policy strategies to dealwith the US.

HOW CAN HEGEMONY BE

OVERCOME?How long will hegemony last? Howdo we get beyond hegemony?These become, for obviousreasons, some of the burningquestions of our time. Historyprovides us with some fascinatingclues to answer these questions.But what about the present andthe future? In internationalpolitics, very few factors formallycurtail the exercise of militarypower by any country. There is noworld government like thegovernment of a country. As weshall see in Chapter 6,international organisation is notworld government. Thus,international politics is ‘politicswithout government’. There aresome rules and norms called thelaws of war that restrict, but do

LOK SABHA DEBATES INDO-USRELATIONS


not prohibit, war. But few stateswill entrust their security tointernational law alone. Does thismean that there is no escape fromwar and hegemony?

In the short term, we mustrecognise that no single power isanywhere near balancing the USmilitarily. A military coalitionagainst the US is even less likelygiven the differences that existamong big countries like China,India, and Russia that have thepotential to challenge UShegemony.

Some people argue that it isstrategically more prudent to takeadvantage of the opportunitiesthat hegemony creates. Forinstance, raising economic growthrates requires increased trade,technology transfers, andinvestment, which are bestacquired by working with ratherthan against the hegemon. Thus,it is suggested that instead ofengaging in activities opposed tothe hegemonic power, it may beadvisable to extract benefits byoperating within the hegemonicsystem. This is called the‘bandwagon’ strategy.

Another strategy open tostates is to ‘hide’. This impliesstaying as far removed from thedominant power as possible.There are many examples of thisbehaviour. China, Russia, theEuropean Union—all of them, indifferent ways, are seeking to staybelow the radar, as it were, andnot overly and unduly antagonisethe US. However, this would not

seem to be viable for the big,second-rank powers for very long.While it may be an attractive,viable policy for small states, it ishard to imagine mega-states likeChina, India, and Russia or hugeagglomerations such as the EUbeing able to hide for anysubstantial length of time.

Some people believe thatresistance to American hegemonymay not come from other states,which as we have seen arepowerless to confront the UStoday, but rather from non-stateactors. These challenges toAmerican hegemony will emergein the economic and culturalrealms, and will come from acombination of non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs), socialmovements, and public opinion;it may arise from sections of themedia and intellectuals, artists,and writers. These various actors

How long do you think the US will stay on the super-powerstage? If you were to draw this, who would you show as waitingin the wings?

© C

am

Ca

rdow

, C

agl

e C

arto

ons

Inc.


may well form links acrossnational boundaries, includingwith Americans, to criticise andresist US policies.

You might have heard thesaying that we now live in a‘global village’. In this globalvillage, we are all neighbours ofthe village headman. If thebehaviour of the headmanbecomes intolerable, we will nothave the option of leaving theglobal village, because this is theonly world we know and the onlyvillage we have. Resistance willthen be the only option available.

STEPSAssign students to major geo-political regions ofthe world from the vantage point of the US(Central America, South America, Africa,Europe, former USSR, West Asia, South Asia, EastAsia and Australia). Alternatively, you couldassign students to major conflict zones of thepost-Cold War period in which the US wasinvolved. (e.g., Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel-Palestineor Kosovo or any active conflict at the time ofteaching).

Group the students in equal strength accordingto the number of areas identified. Each group isto prepare a fact-file on the role of the US inthese regions or conflicts. The fact-file shouldfocus on the US interest in the region, its activitiesand the public opinion about the US in theregion. Students can also collect and presentrelated pictures/cartoons from all availablesources.

Each group is to present their fact-file beforethe class.

Ideas for the Teacher

Using the fact-file as the background information, the teacherhas to refocus on the intervention made by the US and whetherthese interventions have been in line with the principlesadvocated by the UN.

Invite the students to reflect on the future of the region orconflict twenty years from now. How long will the US continueto be hegemonic? Which other powers may be in a positionto challenge US hegemony in that region?

All this sounds like alot of jealousy. Whatis our problem with UShegemony? Just thatwe were not bornthere? Or somethingelse?

US Hegemony in World Politics 49E

x e

r c

i s

e s

1. Which among the following statements about hegemony isincorrect?

a. The word implies the leadership or predominance of one State.b. It was used to denote the predominance of Athens in the

ancient Greece.c. The country having hegemonic position will possess

unchallenged military power.d. Hegemonic position is fixed. Once a hegemon, always a

hegemon.2. Which among the following statements is wrong about the

contemporary world order?

a. There is an absence of world government, which could regulatethe State’s behaviour.

b. The US is the predominant player in world affairs.c. States are using force against one another.d. States, which violate international law, are severely punished

by the UN.

Given the logic of balance of power, hegemony is a rather unusual condition in international affairs. This is fora very simple reason: in the absence of world government, every state must ensure its own security and, inextreme circumstances, its own survival. Thus, states are acutely aware of power distribution in the internationalpolitical system, and would not normally allow a single state to become so powerful as to pose a mortal threatto other states.

The balance of power logic of international politics, as outlined above, is amply supported by history. Byconvention, we regard 1648 as the year in which the sovereign territorial state emerged as the principalactor in world politics. In the over three and a half centuries since then, there have been only two previousoccasions when a single state succeeded in gaining preponderance in the system to a similar degree as theUS predominates the system today. France from 1660 to 1713 in the context of European continental politicsin the first instance of hegemony, Britain with its global maritime empire from 1860 to 1910 is the second.

History also tells us that although at its height hegemony seems formidable, it does not last forever. To thecontrary, balance of power politics over time reduces the relative power of the hegemon. In 1660, Franceunder Louis XIV was unchallenged; by 1713, England, Habsburg Austria and Russia were contesting Frenchpower. In 1860, the high noon of the Victorian period, Pax Britannica looked secure forever. By 1910, it wasclear that Germany, Japan and the US had emerged as contenders to British power. Thus, twenty years fromnow, another great power, or may be a coalition of great powers could well emerge just as US capabilitiesare declining in relative terms.

Based on an article by Christopher Layne, “The Unipolar Illusion: Why New Great Powers Will Rise”

WHAT DOES HISTORY TEACH US ABOUT HEGEMONY?


E

x

e

r

c

i

s

e

s 3. Which among the following statements is wrong with regard to

‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’?

a. More than forty countries joined in the US-led coalition of thewilling to invade Iraq.

b. The reason given for invading Iraq was to prevent it fromdeveloping weapons of mass destruction.

c. The action was taken with the prior approval of the UN.d. The US-led coalition did not face major resistance from Iraqi

forces 4. Give an example each of the three kinds of hegemony that are

dealt with in the chapter. Do not cite examples that are in thechapter.

5. Mention three ways in which US dominance since the Cold War isdifferent from its position as a superpower during the Cold War.

6. Match the following:

i. Operation Infinite Reach ii. Operation Enduring Freedom iii. Operation Desert Stormiv. Operation Iraqi Freedom

a. War against Al-Qaeda and Talibanb. Coalition of the willingc. Missile attack in Sudand. First Gulf War

7. What are the constraints on American hegemony today? Whichone of these do you expect to get more important in the future?

8. Read the three extracts in the chapter from the Lok Sabha debateon the Indo-US deal. Develop any one of these into a full speechdefending a certain position on Indo-US relations.

9. “If big and resourceful states cannot resist the US hegemony, it isunrealistic to expect much smaller and weaker non-state actors tooffer any resistance.” Examine this proposition and give your opinion.

58027024 Class12 Political Science 2 World Politics Unit03 NCERT TextBook English Edition

Documents

Transcript of 58027024 Class12 Political Science 2 World Politics Unit03 NCERT TextBook English Edition