Which among the following statements about hegemony is incorrect?
a. The word implies the leadership or predominance of one State.
b. It was used to denote the predominance of Athens in the ancient Greece.
c. The country having hegemonic position will possess unchallenged military power.
d. Hegemonic position is fixed. Once a hegemon, always a hegemon.
d. Hegemonic position is fixed. Once a hegemon, always a hegemon.
Explanation – In international politics, countries and group of countries are constantly try to capture and retain power. After the disintegration of Soviet Union, U.S.A dominated world politics. Hence with the change in power structure nothing is fixed, it keeps changing and therefore the hegemon position is not fixed.
Which among the following statements is wrong about the contemporary world order?
a. There is an absence of world government, which could regulate the State’s behaviour.
b. The US is the predominant player in world affairs.
c. States are using force against one another.
d. States, which violate international law, are severely punished by the UN.
d. States, which violate international law, are severely punished by the UN.
Explanation – States who violate law are not severely punished by united nation they are mostly given different type of sanctions. States have to rely on International Legal Framework. There is no enforcement comparable to domestic law, but states make a very big effort to justify their actions under International law thus they are constraint by international law.
Which among the following statements is wrong with regard to ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’?
a. More than forty countries joined in the US-led coalition of the willing to invade Iraq.
b. The reason given for invading Iraq was to prevent it from developing weapons of mass destruction.
c. The action was taken with the prior approval of the UN.
d. The US-led coalition did not face major resistance from Iraqi forces
c. The action was taken with the prior approval of the UN
Explanation - This action was not taken with the prior approval of the UN. The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, explicitly said that the US-led war on Iraq was illegal. Mr. Annan said that the invasion was not sanctioned by the UN security council or in accordance with the UN’s founding charter.
Give an example each of the three kinds of hegemony that are dealt with in the chapter. Do not cite examples that are in the chapter.
After the end of the Cold War there was no serious rival to United States. United States became a hegemony state and the only superpower in the world politics. There are three types of hegemony that are dealt within the chapter.
1. Hegemony as Hard Power – Tenzen was an artist living in Nigeria and was planning to join art and craft academy to give proficiency to her artistic aptitude. But she lost her leg in 2003 missile attack by the US. After she overcame it, she made efforts to achieve and fulfil her dreams if the foreign armies leave her country.
2. Hegemony as Structural Power – Anwar is very good in his studies in the countryside of Middle East Asia and is planning to study subjects from arts stream to accommodate him in different aspects as per requirements. But parents want him to be a master in computers to become a software engineer due to flair for job opportunities in the same.
3. Hegemony as Soft Power – Mayank is a young and energetic man of Melbourne, immigrants from Russia. His father gets upset when he puts on black shirt with white jeans while he goes to church. He justifies that black colour which signifies protest for freedom and white signifies freedom in a peaceful manner.
Mention three ways in which US dominance since the Cold War is different from its position as a superpower during the Cold War.
Three ways in which US dominance since the cold war is different from its position as a superpower during the cold war are:
1. During cold war, the US found it difficult to win over Soviet Union as hard power due to retaliating capacity of the Soviet Union and to protest world from large scale destruction. But in the areas of structure and soft power, the US dominated the world.
2. During the cold war years the Soviet Union provided an alternative model of socialist economy to maximize the welfare of state. Still the world economy throughout the cold year adapted capitalist economy under the US.
3. In the area of soft power the US became victorious. As the example of blue jeans shows that the US could engineer a generational gap even in soviet society on the basis of the culture.
Match the following:
i. Operation Infinite Reach
ii. Operation Enduring Freedom
iii. Operation Desert Storm
iv. Operation Iraqi Freedom
a. War against Al-Qaeda and Taliban
b. Coalition of the willing
c. Missile attack in Sudan
d. First Gulf War
i. Operation Infinite Reach – C. Missile attack in Sudan
• In 1998, there was bombing at the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania by Al-Qaeda, a terrorist organization. President Clinton ordered ‘Operation Infinite Reach’ in which Al-Qaeda terrorist targets in Sudan and Afghanistan were attacked.
ii. Operation Enduring Freedom – A. War against Al-Qaeda and Taliban
• On 11 September 2001, nineteen hijackers hailing from Arab countries took control of four American commercial aircraft and flew them into important US buildings. President George W. Bush launched ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’ against Afghanistan to curb terrorism and to crush territories.
iii. Operation Desert Storm – D. First Gulf War
• On 2nd August 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait. U.N condemned the invasion and demanded withdrawal of Iraqi troops. Massive coalition force of 660,000 troops from 34 countries fought against Iraq and defeated it. The U.N operation was called ‘Operation Desert Storm’. It is also to be called known as the first Gulf war.
iv. Operation Iraqi Freedom – B. Coalition of the willing
• On 19th march 2003 the US launched its invasion Iraqi under the code name ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ more than 40 other countries joined on the US collision on the willing after the refused to give its mandate to the invasion.
What are the constraints on American hegemony today? Which one of these do you expect to get more important in the future?
The U.S hegemony means that U.S.A is the sole superpower. The U.S.A dominates the world in military, political, economic as well as cultural field.
Constraints on U.S Hegemony:
History tells us that empires declined because they decay from within. Similarly, the biggest constraint to American hegemony is from within broadly, there are three constraints on American power:
1. The first constraint is the institutional Architecture of the American state itself. American system is based on division of powers between the three organs of the government, i.e., legislature, executive and judiciary. These organs put many restrictions on military power.
2. The second constraint on the American power is the Open nature of the American society and the political culture.
3. The third constraint on the American power is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Out of these three constraints, third constraint on American power is the most important in the future. NATO is the only organization in the world which can put some check on the American power. NATO will be successful in moderating the U.S hegemony.
Read the three extracts in the chapter from the Lok Sabha debate on the Indo-US deal. Develop any one of these into a full speech defending a certain position on Indo-US relations.
India’s relations with America were not friendly in the beginning. During cold war India adopted a policy of Non-Alignment, but due to many factors, India had very close relation with Soviet Union. However, the position changed after the end of cold war. After the disintegration of Soviet Union, the relation between India and US relations also changed. India and U.S became close to each other. In January 2004 both the countries agreed to increase the corporations on 3 issues- Civilian nuclear program, civilian space programme and high technology.
During the debate in Lok Sabha on the Indo-U.S agreement on nuclear energy the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said that in recent years India’s impressive economic growth rate has made the country an attractive economic partner for a number of countries including the U.S.
It is important that we do not loose sight of the fact that two new factors have emerged in Indo-U.S relations in recent years. These factors relate to the technological dimensions in the role of Indian-American Diaspora. In fact these two factors are interrelated. The following facts prove the importance of close relations between India and U.S:
1. The U.S absorbs around 65% of India’s total exports in the software sections.
2. 35% of the technical staff of the BOING is estimate to be of Indian origin.
3. 3 Lakh Indians works in the Silicon Valley.
4. 15% of all high-tech start-ups are by Indians-Americans.
“If big and resourceful states cannot resist the US hegemony, it is unrealistic to expect much smaller and weaker non-state actors to offer any resistance.” Examine this proposition and give your opinion.
In the world politics, U.S.A has the position of a hegemon. After the disintegration of Soviet Union, no other country is in a position to challenge America’s authority and military power. Big and resourceful states like China, Russia, India and European Union are not in a position to challenge U.S Hegemony and these countries are not unduly antagonising the U.S. It is unrealistic to expect much smaller states to offer any resistance to U.S but it is possible that the resistance may come from a combination of Non-Government Organizations (NGO’s), Social movements and public opinions. Resistance can also be initiated by intellectuals, writers, artist and mass media.
Due to globalization, the whole world has become a ‘Global Village.’ Thus, we are all labour of the village headman. If the behaviour of the village headman becomes intolerable then we have no other alternative except to resist against him because there is only one village or world where we have to live. In other words, resistance against U.S hegemony will be the only option available.