Global political paradigm shift: the world transforming to multipolarity

Abstract

Throughout history the world has witnessed rise and fall of great powers be that civilizations, empires or nations. The advent of 21 centwy is proving to be a transitional phase in world order from unipolarity to multipolarity. With the passage of time we see a gradual decline is US hegemony and relative rise of the second tier countries such as China, Russia, Japan, and India. As these states are emerging slowly but surely the world is moving towards multipolarity. The US might be a sole militmy super power of the world, but its unilateral approach has resulted in a crisis in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. These unilateral stances are proving to be a failure for US as they are unable to resolve the conflict. After the 2008 global financial crisis the US was no longer the front runner in the economic domain. Economically major players such as China, BRICS nations are emerging and having a significant say in the global affairs. An economic paradigm shift is being observed, moving from West to East. China with its growing economic and militmy power is naturally !tying to increase its sphere of influence. Similarly, Russia is res raging. It is bent on returning to the old glory days of the nation when Russia was a force to be eckoned with. Now after years of staying dormant and quietly rebuilding itself, Russians are now again beginning to flex their muscles in their region, it is clearly evident from the annexation of Crimea. Finally, offensive realism is the basis of the theoretical framework been used to describe the relationship between hegemony and polarity. According to John J. Mearsheimer, proponent of offensive realist school of thought argues that all states with their growing power, both economic and military, seek to control their environment. Their power grows so does their threat perception, so it expected for them to aspire to become regional powers which is the case for China, Russia and other emerging powers. This study will focus on how, from a realist perspective, US is clinging on to its hegemonic status while it is facing several threats on multiple fronts, mainly in the domain of economy and diplomacy. China and Russia are increasing their sphere of influence which is challenging US interests in the region. The primary goal of US has been to remain the sole hegemon in the western hemisphere and prevent the rise of a hegemon in the eastern hemisphere. This study is primarily qualitative but quantitative methods are used as well.