Multi-Polarity and World War 1

Multi-Polarity and World War 1

A state of world relations in which a multiplicity of power centers exist and wield strategic influence over global affairs, shaping political and economic change. The alternatives are the unipolar and bipolar systems. In the unipolar system, a single state assumes unchallenged superpower status; in the bipolar system, two sources or centers of power exercise a comparable measure of leadership and influence in global affairs (Christensen, 1993).

The post-world war period has seen major changes in the nature of the international system. The 19th and early 20th centuries were characterized by a balance of power equation in which the power play between competing forces and nations was aimed at keeping each other's hegemonistic and expansionist tendencies in check. The only modern experience of a multi-polar world without a dominant leader occurred between World War I and World War II (Christensen, 1990).

At the end of World War II, a bipolar system emerged with the Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, each with its respective diplomatic and military allies. This system lasted until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. After this historic event, the United States emerged as the only remaining superpower, with a level of military might and economic power that was unmatched in the modern world (Hyde, 2007).

At the same time, however, a more complex yet subtle multipolar distribution of global power has also emerged, involving new and unique relationships among an expanded number of states belonging to the international community. This multipower distribution includes regional weights, such as Japan and the European Union (EU), as well as the growing power and influence of China and India—which together account for more than one-third of the world's population (Kennedy, 2002).

A new pattern of global power has emerged, owing to some of the same forces that led to the breakdown of the bipolar world. These forces included mutual deterrence (invoked by states as a result of its increased military and, in some cases, nuclear capability); the emergence of Western Europe as a prosperous, dynamic, and self-confident group of nations; and the gaining of independence by colonial societies throughout Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Arab world (Little, 2007).

The new and complex multipolar world order has been accompanied by a process of regionalization intensified by the pressure exerted by globalization. All regions are experiencing the formation of zones of cooperation or integration. These zones are based on geographic proximity and shared cultural features, although they also serve the end of joint self-assertion in the face of an increasingly globalized world, which is sometimes seen as a threat to political autonomy, cultural identity, and economic competitiveness. Due to these same developments, as well as competing and opposing views on global engagement, the emergent multipolar order also threatens the claim by the United States to world leadership (Mearsheimer, 2001).

After the end of the Cold War and the rise of the United States as the only power capable of global action, the United ...