The United States And The Soviet Union During The Cold War

John Mearsheimer alluded to this ‘reality’ in the following quote from a series of interviews called Conversations with History in 2002. “My argument is that if China continues to grow economically, it will translate that economic might into military might, and it will become involved in an intense security competition with the United States, similar to the security competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.” Subscribers to Mearsheimer’s postulations would point to recent struggles involving China, the United States, and other actors in the South China Sea.

The second and certainly preferable alternative is that all states involved, along with other major international actors will weigh the costs and benefits of each scenario and arrive at similar conclusions. That is to say, in this day and age of multi-lateral institutions, there is little to be gained from actual conflict. Thus emerging actors will seek a ‘balance of power’ within the current system. That, “balancing involves institutional strategies such as the formation of limited diplomatic coalitions or ententes to constrain the superior powers. It also involves strengthening economic ties between peers, which can possibly shift the balance of economic power against the more powerful state/s in the long term.” (Flemes, 6)

Within international relations circles this idea of a shift away from American hegemony is called a return to ‘multipolarity’. Realists would