Term Paper on "Hegemony the Decline of U.S"

Term Paper 9 pages (2923 words) Sources: 15

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Although the government exerts a large amount of power over markets, the Chinese have incorporated market driven practices that have allowed it to meet its growth objectives. Some have even argued that there version of capitalism is more efficient at driving growth than the liberal versions of capitalism that is found in developed countries (Karon). This is one of the perspectives that has led some believe that the non-liberal powers will not be easily incorporated into liberal institutions when the U.S. led hegemony begins to unravel.

There are other powers that are also developing at a substantial pace as well. In India economic reforms started in the early 1990s which were comparatively much later than in China. India has taken a different approach to development however that has some advantages over the Communist strategy. India and China are often directly compared in terms of economic growth even though the two countries have developed on very different trajectories and have used entirely different strategies to support their growth (Riley). India has invested in the future through education in engineering and information technology among others and this investment is expected to pay out in the future. For example, it is estimated that India trains over four hundred thousand engineers a year while the U.S. only trains about sixty thousand (Digital Learning). India has also secured a spot as one of the top destinations for outsourcing various high-tech information technology processes.

Another notable member to the BRICS group, Brazil, has also built an economy that has seen a couple decades of impressive economic growth. The BRIC nations, Brazil, Russia, India, and China, were first grouped together in late 2001 by Goldman Sachs despite the many non-economic differences between them (Tett). These countries together account for over forty percent of the world's population and roughly half of that population in the BRICS nations is under thirty years of age. Brazil is the largest country in South America and also the world's eighth largest economy by nominal GDP. Yet countries like Brazil and India are both functioning democracies. Therefore, whereas Communist countries like China might be more difficult to integrate into a liberal framework, there are some non-Western powers that already embrace many of the same liberal concepts.

Western Liberalism

The spread of Western Liberalism has been a cultural and political ascension that spans roughly two centuries and most of the alternatives to a liberal system have virtually disappeared (Ikenberry 81). Liberalism originated in the West and champions such things as scientific rationality, freedom and inevitability of human progress; it also represents an approach to government which emphasizes individual rights, constitutionalism, democracy and limitations on the powers of the state (Langridge, Liberalism is Simply Another Tool of Western Hegemony). Because these ideals originated in the West and have largely been intertwined in Western culture and has largely embrace the three Kantian variables international institutions, international trade and democracy in succession (Langridge, Liberalism is Simply Another Tool of Western Hegemony).

However, at the same time, there is a wide range of principles found in the so-called Western variations of liberalism. There is a vastly different concept of liberalism that is practiced in the U.S. And Europe for example with the U.K. falling somewhere in between the two points on this spectrum. In some regions in Europe for example liberalism is associated with the American conception of libertarianism. Thus the conception of a Western liberalism most exists in the United States and in the U.K. To a lesser extent.

Even in the United States there is no consensus on what liberalism entails and it has become a derogatory term that has caused some who believe in traditionally liberal values to identify as with other titles such as progressive. Bill Clinton, for example, was able to avoid being labeled as a liberal in his presidential campaign by positioning himself closer to center in the political spectrum (Hofrenning 82). The concept of liberalism is subjective at best and there are many interpretations in the U.S. itself let alone the rest of the world.

Conclusion

The liberal order is not dependent of U.S. hegemony and will likely endure in a multipolar world. Most of the countries in the BRICS block that have expanding populations and expanding economies already incorporate many of the common conceptions of liberal values. Even China has incorporated many aspects of capitalism that are associated with liberalism. However, with foresight of a transition in the global order of power in hand, the U.S. has a number of options.

The U.S. should cooperate and become a full participant in the strengthening of international institutions tasked with upholding it such as the United Nations and should use its current leverage to do so. By adopting this strategy, the U.S. would undoubtedly sacrifice some of its power in the short-term and absolute autonomy through the creation treaties and engaging in fairer trade. However, such a scenario could create a more concrete and enduring role in the version of the strengthened liberal institutions that supersede the current situation.

Although such a transition might speed the decline of the American "empire," its imperial holdings, and its absolute hegemony, such course of action would help secure the liberal order. Furthermore, such cooperative behavior would restore much of the legitimacy the U.S. has lost in the eyes of the world, and legitimacy is essential to exert influence. The International Monetary Fund recently revealed that U.S. is no longer world's biggest economy and the implications of a changing international sphere are evident (Arends).

The rise of power non-state actors foreshadows the growing irrelevance of a concept such as state hegemony. If the coming of a multipolar world in which the concentration of powers is highly fragmented and in which the U.S. is no longer the leading power across the board, it would behoove the U.S. To develop cooperative relationships with the global community as well as to safeguard the liberal legacy by slowly empowering global and regional institutions and supporting the rise of emerging liberal norms - even if it costs it some of its ability to make unilateral decision with complete impunity. Empires rise and fall. Their legacies can endure. Global norms will continue to evolve, but the U.S. still has the influence to make sure the future institutions in the world will represent the next generation of liberal values.

Works Cited

Arends, B. "It's official: American is now No. 2." 4 December 2014. MarketWatch. Online. 7 January 2015.

Betts, R. "Institutioanl Imperialism." 19 April 2011. The National Interest. Online. 5-1 2015.

Digital Learning. "Harnessing Growth: An Overview of India's Higher Education." 1 June 2008. Digital Learning. Online. 5 January 2015. .

Doyle, M. "Liberal Legacies and Foreign Affairs." Philosophy & Public Affairs (1983): 205-235. Online.

Dunne, T. "Liberalism." (n.d.).

Friedman, R. "The Future of Liberal Internationalism: Global Governance in a Post -- American Hegemonic Era." Council on Foreign Relations (2012): 1-9. Online.

Haas, R. "The Age of Nonpolarity; What Will Follow U.S. Dominance." Foreign Affairs (2008): 44-50. Online.

Hofrenning, D. In Washington But Not of It: The Prophetic Politics of Religious Lobbyists. Philadelphia: Temple University, 1995. Online.

Huntington, S. "The Lonely Superpower." Foreign Affairs (1999): 35-51. Online.

Ikenberry, G. "A World of Our Making." Democracy Journal (2011): 78-81. Online.

Johnson, C. "737 U.S. Military Bases = Global Empire." 19 February 2007. AlterNet. Online. 6 January 2015.

Kagan, R. "Superpowers Don't Get to Retire." 26 May 2014. New Republic. Online. 9 January 2015.

Karon, T. "Why China Does Capitalism Better than the U.S." 20 January 2011. Time World. Online. 5 January 2015. .

Keohane, R. "Twenty Years of Institutional Liberalism." International Relations (2012): 125-138. Online.

Langridge, C. "Liberalism is Simply Another Tool of Western Hegemony." E-IR (2013): 1-11. Online.

-- . "Liberalism: Another Tool of Western Hegemony." 30 October 2013. E-International Relations Students. Online. 9 January 2015.

Mataconis, D. "U.S. Military Spending v. The Rest Of The World." 11 April 2011. Outside the Beltway. Online. 6 January 2014.

Nye, J. Future of Power: Its Changing Nature and Use in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Public Affairs, 2011. Ebook.

Riley, G. "Wolf on a Waking Giant." 26 January 2008. Tutor Economics. Online. 6 January 2015. .

Tett, G. "The story of the Brics." 15 January 2010. FT Magazine. Online. 6 January 2015. .

The Economist. "China's next leader." 21 October 2010. The Economist. Online. 6 January 2015. . READ MORE

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