American Hegemony Essay

The United States emerged as the sole leading power at the time the Soviet Union dissolves into fifteen different countries across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Since the US’s dominant role has remained for almost three decades, one may ask, is American hegemony still as influential as it was during the systemic change in 1989, if it is subject to declining, how has the structure of the international political system changed and who may replace US as the apex? As mentioned previously, in a world political system with distinct ranks, the disproportionate rising of a state undermines the authority of the leading state in all disciplines including economy, military and politics. Furthermore, the aggressive subordinate state, with a strong will to replace the leader in the global …show more content…
In present day, the military spending of the United States takes approximately 40 percent of the overall world military spending. Moreover, as the leader of NATO, a military alliance created after the Second World War among the first world countries, the pioneer of the United Nations with permanent veto power, major decision maker in the International Monetary Fund and the world’s largest national economy, the vital role of United States is inevitable. Namely, if another state intends to challenge American’s prominent sphere of influence in the world by inordinately increasing its strength in all aspects, a hegemonic war is unavoidable. After the fall of the Soviet Union, an increasing number of former communist countries chose to join the European Union and most of them abandoned the economic policy of central planning, including China and Vietnam though they still maintained the single-party structure. The adoption of free market economy improved the economic conditions in the communist countries. Moreover, by removing certain tariff barriers and promoting free trades, a new global trend emerges as