Are We Experiencing An Age Of American Leadership, Hegemony Or Empire?

We are living in an age of American hegemony. Hegemony is described as 'a dominant group's ability to make others want the same thing as it wants for itself' (Wade: 2002: 215). America has been making others want the same thing as itself since 1945. Hegemons 'penetrate into all countries' (Cox: 1996: 137) and America has certainly penetrated into the affairs of many countries, it has been dubbed 'the world's policeman'. Since the 1960's the decline of US hegemony has been discussed, certainly the US has lost some of its influence however I argue that the US remains a hegemon. The US is still a leader in world economics and is unrivalled in its military capacity, despite having lost some power the US still remains a substantial superpower. Looking at the US's economic and military power, this essay will look at the arguments for and against the US's hegemony. However in short, although the US's power has certainly declined since the post-Cold War era, the US still remains a hegemon. In terms of economic and military power there are many reasons why the US is still considered a hegemon. In terms of military power the US is still inimitable to any other country, despite the emergence of China, Russia and even India as rivals to the US. By 2007 the USA accounted for 46% of the world's military spending and has a nine-fold lead over China. The US has over 700 military bases in over 100 countries and countries that are competing with the US won't even try to compete with their military capacity (Heywood: 2011: 227). Gen Chen, chief of the General Staff of the People`s Liberation Army said that "China never intends to challenge the US", this shows that even the countries that are comparable to the US are afraid to challenge them. (Anonymous (BBC news): 2011). Layne argues that these states will not counterbalance because they receive important security and economic benefits from US hegemony (Layne: 2009: 150). China is often seen as the US's biggest rival, however in terms of military power, China is no-where near the US, in 2010 China spent $78 billion on military whereas the US spent $729 billion, China has 240 nuclear warheads and the US has 9,400; however China has more active personnel they have 2.26 million compared to the US who only have 1.58 million (Anonymous (BBC news): 2011). In 1939 there were fewer than 200,000 men in the army; compared to the figures of 2010 this shows astronomical growth and the extent to which the US has become a hegemon. (Cox: 2001: 314). The US still exercises disproportional influence over institutions like NATO and this is because of its military scope (Heywood: 2011: 227). Although there are significant arguments that the US's military power is declining and therefore its status as a hegemon is threatened, I believe that the US still has substantial military power and is still a hegemon in today's society. In terms of economic power, the US is still a pre-eminent power in today's society. In 2012 China's GDP per capita (US $) was 6,188 and the US's GDP per capita was 49,965 and Russia's GDP per capita was 14,037 (World Bank: 2012). This shows us that in economic power, the US is still miles ahead of its main competitors. The USA accounts for about 40% of the world's spending research and development, assuring that it has a high productivity levels and has an infallible technological lead over other countries; China is generations away from rivalling the USA in the technologically advanced economic sectors. (Heywood: 2011: 227). Layne argues that in the sense of economic power, states will not balance against the US because they want to enjoy the benefits of cooperation with the US (Layne: 2009: 160). Although many economists argue that China is on the road to quickly surpassing the US's economic dominance many factors such as domestic political instability, environmental degradation, public health issues and demographic trends could derail China's ascent to great power status (Layne: 2009: 164). Therefore in terms of economic and military power, I believe the US is still a hegemon. Layne argues that 'because it uniquely combines overwhelming economic and military power, the US enjoys unchallenged pre-eminence in the international system (Layne: 2009: 159-160). Despite the strong argument that the US is still a hegemon, there is still a strong argument that the power of the US in waning and the age of American power is drawing to a close. In the 1990's US military power was at its height; victory in the Gulf War kicked the Vietnam syndrome and the US bailed out an impotent and divided Europe on its own borders in Yugoslavia (Kitchen and Cox: 2009: 241). However, recent military defeats have shown that the US's preponderant military power may no longer be a secure basis for hegemony. The forced withdrawal of the US from Lebanon in 1984 and Somalia in 1993 and the difficulty of winning the asymmetrical wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have shown that methods such as guerrilla warfare can thwart the most advanced military power (Heywood: 2011: 227). After the 9/11 attacks on American, there was global solidarity and support for the US's war on terror, however this was swiftly lost among the perceived illegitimacy of the Iraq invasion. Although many people were awed at the speed of advance to Baghdad, this war soon drew US forces deep into an irregular conflict and undermined attempts to rebuild. As the US expended more blood and treasure in a difficult conflict, their foreign policy became less and less popular. The difficulty of winning this asymmetrical war rendered America's military power ineffective and squandered America's soft power. This war showed that the use of terrorist and guerrilla tactics meant a lesser power could thwart a hegemon like that US (Kitchen and Cox: 200: 243). Kitchen and Cox remarked that 'the Iraq conflict eroded America's position in the world both by revealing the impotence of American power and by eroding its legitimacy' (Kitchen and Cox: 200: 243). The situation in Syria has also shown how the US has lost some of its military influence. The Syrian government has been oppressing the people of Syria for years, however on the 21st August 2013 in Ein Tarma the Syrian government used chemical weapons on local people and the death toll was put at over 1,300 people. The US called for the Security Council to allow military action against Syria and notably China, Russia and Britain voted against this. This shows how the US has lost some influence and the US lost some soft power over this issue. (Anonymous- BBC news: 2013). This tells us that although the US remains unrivalled in its military capacity, it is not as strong and influential as it used to be. The US has also lost some economic influence in the past few years. In the past few years in Europe, the anti-American sentiment has grown; this is especially notable during the Bush administration. Tensions were increased when in 2003 when the European Union was no longer a US dependant and the European Union became the biggest single market on the planet with a GDP higher than the United States with its own foreign policy and way of war (Kitchen and Cox: 2000: 244). This marked the end of the US as a dominant economic force in international relations. The US dollar in the international reserve currency however, Global Trends predicts that 'the dollar's role as the international economy's preeminent reserve currency will erode' (Layne: 2009: 153). It is also noted that the growing dependence of the US on foreign capital inflows may curtail US freedom of action in unanticipated ways (Layne: 2009: 154). The US has a $1 trillion plus budget deficit that the Brookings Institution and Congressional Budget Office will incur and even of the stimulus bill is allowed to expire the country will face the highest debt/GDP ratio in 50 years and it is predicted that there is trouble ahead for the dollar (Lyne: 2009: 168). Many economists have predicted that China will soon take over the US as the dominant economic force. In early 2009, the Economist Intelligence Unit predicted that China's GDP would surpass the United States in 2021 (Layne: 2009: 163). There are many factors which now show China as surpassing the US in economic dominance. China controls over 90% of the global supply of rare earth elements, in the past 15 years China has moved from 14th to 2nd place in the world in published scientific research articles, in 2010 China produced 19.8% of goods consumed in the world and the US only produced 19.4% and China took over from the US as the largest consumer of energy on the globe (Snyder: 2011). Therefore, the US has lost a lot of economic influence and some countries, most notably China, are challenging the US and the US may no longer be the only hegemon. To conclude, the US remains a hegemon, however it may no longer be the only hegemon in global politics. The US still remains the dominant military power, although it has lost some military influence and notably the Iraq war has shown the US's decreasing military power. The US remains unrivalled in the amount of money it spends on its military and although many argue that countries like China and Russia are now competing with the US, no country can or will attempt to match the US in their military power. The US no longer commands economic dominance; however they are still one of the most powerful countries in terms of their economic standing. Despite China and Russia claiming they will use a new economic reserve currency, the dollar is still the economic international reserve currency. The US lost a lot of economic influence when the European Union no longer relied on the US and became the biggest single market on the planet. It is predicted that China will surpass the US in GDP in 2021, but they haven't yet. Therefore I believe the US remains a hegemon despite having lost some military and economic power in the last few years.