Has the Era of US Hegemony ended Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Has the Era of US Hegemony ended - Essay Example That is, hegemony will be visible when countries through their strong attributes particularly armed power, economic power, political power and even ‘soft’ powers, elevate themselves into top positions, and then try to assert their dominance over others through force or persuasion. From the mid part of the 20th century, United States America is one such country which ‘tried’ to or even evolved into a hegemonic country, due to the optimum development of its economic, military and even soft power statuses. In the late 19th – early 20th century, U. S. made sizable attempts to expand its political influence over other territories through their imperialistic initiatives and importantly through their involvement in both the World Wars. With the two World Wars elevating U. S. position in the international area, and with its economy, its science and technology capabilities and even mass media optimizing, it kind of gave the platform for U. S. to elevate its po sition further and become a hegemonic power. US’s plans to play a prominent international role got actualized in the second half of the 20th century as well, because of its confrontation with Soviet Union through Cold War, its involvement in the Middle-East and other territories. U. S’s hard-power as well as soft-power capabilities have improved so much now that no other country in the world have the capability as well as the will to dethrone it from its position of solo superpower, as U. S. hegemony is stronger, aggressive and at the same time democratic and benevolent.1 However, the other view is, due to certain misadventures, U. S. days as the solo superpower could be numbered.2 This paper will focus on this hegemonic status of U. S., by analyzing whether U.S. hegemony is going to continue or end, and by concluding how it is going to continue and not going to end soon. U.S. Hegemonic beginnings Although many European countries including Britain, Spain, France, etc., exhibited their imperialistic policies to become a hegemonic power in the early centuries, U. S. played a subdued role then. With U. S. ‘forming’ into country quite lately and due to its domestic issues, it did not initiate any major imperialistic steps. However, in the late part of 19th century due to its indirect confrontations with Spain in foreign territories, it started moving in that direction. That is, the Spanish–American War took place when U. S. involved itself in the Cuban War of Independence, and also due to its attacks on the Spanish territories in the Pacific area, particularly on Philippines.3 U. S. started initiating imperialistic actions, when it found that its interests are being undermined by other powers and also when it found that there are no strong opposition from the indigenous people because of in-fighting between themselves. This perspective was validated by Derbyshire (2003), who stated, â€Å"In places where America's interests are a t stake, however (and in conflict with those of other nations)-and where national feeling is divided, or artificial, or non-existent, so that patriotic native elites cannot easily take control of the situation-we need to act in our own interests†4 The key intention of U. S. to indulge in imperialism and thereby become a hegemonic power in the long run is to develop economically. When countries normally enter territories rich in natural resources, after capturing the power of governance, they will mainly go for these resources, and U.