GO131: International Relations Professor Walter Hatch Colby College The Unipolar Moment

Pax Romanica

Pax Britannica

Pax Americana

United States JapanGermanyFranceBritainRussiaChinaIndia BASIC Territory (thousand km) 9, ,0759,5973,288 Population (million people) ,2621,014 Literacy rate (percentage) MILITARY Nuclear warheads (1997)12, ,500> Budget ($ billion) Personnel (thousand people) 1, ,0042,4801,173 ECONOMIC Total GDP ($ billion, PPP) 9,2552,9501,8641,3731, ,8001,805 Per capita GDP ($) 33,90023,40022,70023,30021,8004,2003,8001,800 Manufacturing value-added ($ billion, 1996) 1,3441, NA30963 High-tech exports ($ billion, 1997) Personal computers (per 1,000 people) Power Resources

Durable Beyond Expectations In 1980s, many scholars predicted U.S. would be eclipsed. By Japan Or by “United States of Europe” But U.S. influence increased Until March 2003, U.S. led an international system characterized by harmony among the great powers

Why so durable? Unipolarity is inherently stable (Wohlforth) US has, until recently, used strategic restraint (Ikenberry)

A New Direction

So the US goes it alone

The Bush Doctrine Pre-emption or prevention Precedents in 1992 and 2000 Imperial, and proud of it

The End of Empire? Muslim outrage over U.S. support for Israel China’s attack on “hegemony” Division in the Western Alliance “Old Europe” refuses to bandwagon

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