1st Edition
Globalization, Multipolarity and Great Power Competition
In his new book, Hanna Samir Kassab examines changes and trends in international politics and the competition between great powers for control of the international system.
He argues that the increase in geopolitical, economic, nationalist, and resource competition between three great powers, the United States, China, and Russia, points to the changing structure of the international system. This competition is a systemic one, focusing more on the rules and norms that defined the system since the end of the Cold War. This American-led unipolar order is translating into a multipolar one. Kassab begins by tracing the decline of the United States after the Iraq War (2003) and the Great Recession (2008) as well as the rise of China and the resurgence of Russia. He describes major foreign policy changes from George H.W. Bush to Donald J. Trump and how the various administrations approached the international system. Russia and China will increase their international influence as the United States pulls back from the international system.
Written using simple jargon, Globalization, Multipolarity and Great Power Competition is equally accessible to academics and casual readers and laypeople interested in international politics.
1. Introduction
2. Evolution of the International System Since the End of the Cold War
3. Rise of Geopolitical Competition
4. Weak and Fragile States in Multipolarity
5. Resource Security and the Changing International System
6. Nationalism and Globalization in Multipolarity: Unraveling of the Global Order
7. Conclusions: The Multiploar Future
Biography
Hanna Samir Kassab is Assistant Professor of Political Science at East Carolina University, USA. He is the author of Weak States and Spheres of Great Power Influence and Crime, Violence and the State in Latin America with Jonathan D. Rosen
"Hanna Kassab important new work is of value for strategists and decisionmakers, as well as for scholars for understanding the dynamics of the US-China-Russia competition through a framework that masterfully weaves together international relations theory on realism and interdependence, with far reaching, on-point analysis of how that competition is playing out in multiple arenas across the globe."
Evan Ellis, Research Professor, U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute
"After several decades of reduced post-cold war conflict, improving relations among the major world powers – the United States, Russia and China -- hostilities among them are now increasing. Kassab does a superb job of tracking and explaining the reasons that globalization, largely driven by U.S. interests, is being outpaced by this growing confrontation."
Roger E. Kanet, Professor Emeritus, University of Miami and University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignAls
"In this very relevant book, the author walks us through the evolution of polarisms in international politics, brings to us adequately enough the fragile nature of great power competition, and makes a convincing case how in the 21st century multipolar world emerging powers have unsettled the accepted norms and structures. One could clearly see the author building on his earlier works and presenting before us the big picture while at the same time taking care not to undermine the developments at small places and their potential to shape events at big places. We live in an increasingly polarized world, international politics is no exception, and the author, while presenting the challenges the evolving order poses before the state actors, does not lose sight of prospects of cooperation among them."
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra, PhD, Professor of Political Science at the Florida State College at Jacksonville
"Benjamin Franklin once said that 'democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.' Rich in historical context alongside a deep analysis of the full-spectrum of international relations theory, Globalization, Multipolarity, and Great Power Competition provides a compelling case for leaders and policymakers across the political spectrum that national sovereignty and liberty are only possible if backed up by hard power—and the willingness to use it. Dr. Kassab’s work is a cogent analysis of the present era—a once-in-a-generation restructuring of the global geopolitical order—offering policymakers a clear roadmap for a determined, forceful, and resilient grand strategy that ensures not only sustained but enhanced American pre-eminence and power for decades to come."
Joshua Ball, Editor-in-Chief, Global Security Review
