Great Power Hegemony

Name: Sayed Jamaluddin Firozi, St no: 1B1019 Great power hegemony There is a question that which system (empire, balance of power, concert of power or great power hegemony) provides the best conditions for advancing peace, prosperity and civilization? There are several opinions about the advantages and disadvantages of each system and the functions, abilities and disabilities of them to maintaining the peace and stability in international arena.

But I want to argue on hegemonic power system as a preventer of war among states and a maintainer of peace as comparison to other suggested types of system for advancing peace, stability and civilization in all over the world. Hegemonic power system is the best system for advancing peace, prosperity and preventing war among states comparing to other types of systems such as empire, balance of power, and concert of power.

In this paper I will argue that as history of international relations show most wars and conflicts among states occurred in a lack of a hegemonic power because a hegemonic power try to act as a policeman and don’t let the states to start war. If war happens mostly the super power will enter the war to stop it because the hegemonic power does see itself as a policeman to have the right to intervene. So, hegemonic power is good for making peace and stability in the world.

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There are many reasons that great power hegemony system could be the best option for developing peace and preventing the war. It is clear that two world wars happened in the absence of a great hegemonic power. For example if in the 1910s there was great power hegemony the First World War may did not happen. In addition, hegemonic power system naturally makes its allies and don’t want to go just for its own interest but also look for others as well.

In contrast in balance of power each actor in the system try to pursue its national interests and want to increase the power in terms of military or other resources. Furthermore, great power hegemony can be very helpful in cooperation among states, because the hegemonic power bear the most cost of transaction in the system. For example USA as a hegemonic state “pays the 22 percent regular expenditure of United Nation and 25 percent of the budget while UN goes for peacekeeping operations around the world.

On the other hand, “the system of balance of power doesn’t seem to contribute the cooperation among states but in contrast it pushes the states to go for a competition and armament race because each state in the system will increase its capabilities to make the balance in the system. Eventually this competition will lead nation state to build its arm forces”. However, there are some arguments about the weakness of hegemonic power to prevent states from going to war. They argue that hegemonic power has its own limitations in term of internal and external barriers to go as policeman around the world.

This arguments see very good and logic. But they don’t have any proposal that which system could be the best to make the world more peaceful and prosperous. So, despite these points of view the other types of system such as balance of power or concert of power likely aren’t good replacement for great power hegemony system to be succeeded for making peace and stability in the world. So I will try to give more examples from history of international relations to show the other systems (empire and balance of power or concert of power) couldn’t make a stable and peaceful world.

But mostly went to war and there was fear of attack from other country in the era of those systems. In conclusion, there might be some suggestion for advancing peace, prosperity and stability within the system of great power hegemony. References: 1. Luard, Evan. The balance of power: The System of International Relations, 1648 – 1815, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1992. 2. Kennedy, Paul, The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, Random House, New York, 1987 3. Huntington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1996. 4. Journal of Peace Research. 5. Brooking Institution Press. 6. The Better World Campaign. -------------------------------------------- [ 2 ]. . U. S. Dues and Contributions to the United Nations, The Better World Campaign, http://www. betterworldcampaign. org/issues/funding/us-dues-and-contributions. h tml , [ 3 ]. . Journal of peace research, 1964-2007 (Vols. 1-44), http://www. jstor. org/stable/422972? seq=3

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