With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the forty five year long Cold War between America and the Soviet Union had ended. This pivotal event was a bellwether for change throughout the globe, with communist states falling like dominoes and ushering in a new era of the exceptional, indispensable US’ unipolar hegemony characterized by stability, the proliferation of interconnected market economies, and the spread of democracy -- all leading to eternal peace among nations. At least, that is what many of the euphoric denizens of the West thought. With a variety of new problems to tackle arising, this rosy worldview was quickly tattered. This grandiloquent declaration has been challenged by a variety of forces such as globalization, nationalism, the rise
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The British-Indian economist argues that there are a slew of identities which people draw upon, not just the religious identity that Huntington argues is overriding. Indeed, he points towards divisions within religions to bolster his argument against Huntington, who clumps together the entirety of Islam as one civilization. Even Huntington himself would know that there are stark divisions within Islam, primarily along Sunni and Shia lines. As such, the world is even more complex than the new, post-Cold War paradigm Huntington delineates. This is clear in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, with both countries seeing themselves as the defenders of the Sunni and Shia sects, respectively. This intra-religion conflict has served to further destabilize the Middle East since the balance of power the Cold War provided was extinguished, with proxy wars and conflicts being held in Syria and Yemen between pro-Sunni and Shia groups which are supported by Saudi Arabia and …show more content…
That is, the theory that a dominant military and economic actor is necessary to preserve stability and prosperity in the liberal international order. Indeed, they have good reason to believe this, as this order is constantly under threat from oscillating calls for nationalism and protectionism, and autocratic state actors such as the resurgent China and nefarious Russia. This is particularly salient today, with this liberal international order under threat by a waxing, resurgent nationalism in the West in the form of Brexit and various populist demagogues, and a more belligerent China and Russia under the helms of the nationalist strongmen Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. As such, the idea of a hegemonic US post-Cold War has been harmed by the actions of the America itself and other factors which work against
The British-Indian economist argues that there are a slew of identities which people draw upon, not just the religious identity that Huntington argues is overriding. Indeed, he points towards divisions within religions to bolster his argument against Huntington, who clumps together the entirety of Islam as one civilization. Even Huntington himself would know that there are stark divisions within Islam, primarily along Sunni and Shia lines. As such, the world is even more complex than the new, post-Cold War paradigm Huntington delineates. This is clear in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, with both countries seeing themselves as the defenders of the Sunni and Shia sects, respectively. This intra-religion conflict has served to further destabilize the Middle East since the balance of power the Cold War provided was extinguished, with proxy wars and conflicts being held in Syria and Yemen between pro-Sunni and Shia groups which are supported by Saudi Arabia and …show more content…
That is, the theory that a dominant military and economic actor is necessary to preserve stability and prosperity in the liberal international order. Indeed, they have good reason to believe this, as this order is constantly under threat from oscillating calls for nationalism and protectionism, and autocratic state actors such as the resurgent China and nefarious Russia. This is particularly salient today, with this liberal international order under threat by a waxing, resurgent nationalism in the West in the form of Brexit and various populist demagogues, and a more belligerent China and Russia under the helms of the nationalist strongmen Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. As such, the idea of a hegemonic US post-Cold War has been harmed by the actions of the America itself and other factors which work against