Managing hegemonic expectations

Posted By Daniel W. Drezner Thursday, July 16, 2009 - 3:27 PM Share

My latest column at The National Interest online is now available. It takes a closer look at the mismatch between domestic and foreign expectations of American hegemony. I also throw in some international relations theory:

While the Obama administration and the American people might be content with the notion of America as just another country, this sentiment raises some uncomfortable questions. There is the factual one: is America really just one of many nations? Despite everything that has befallen the United States during this decade, the fact remains that by standard metrics—GDP, military might, cultural attraction—the United States is far and away the most powerful country in the world. This fact is so glaring that even academics are starting to acknowledge it. Stephen Brooks and William Wohlforth wrote an entire book on the durability of American unipolarity. World Politics published a special issue this year on the nature of the unipolar era.

Go check it out!

EXPLORE:U.S. FOREIGN POLICY, HEGEMONY, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, UNITED STATES

(1)

HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE

BRETT

4:30 PM ET

July 16, 2009

That said, a persistent trend

That said, a persistent trend among my students was their conviction that the U.S. government was the world’s puppeteer, consciously manipulating every single event in world politics.

What amazes me is how much competence they attribute to American manipulation. I remember Bob Baer, in his book See No Evil, talking about a widely held conspiracy theory among the Iraqis, involving a complex series of manipulations of Iraq and Iran. My thought at the time was, "Wow! They sure put a lot of faith in our capabilities!"

In the meantime, from our perspective, it seems like we're just muddling through.

Seriously, though, I almost never hear this addressed by IR Theorists when considering how other countries and people might react. You'd think it would be a major factor to be considered, since if the other folks think you're the Grand Chessmaster, they're naturally going to be suspicious of everything you do, thinking it's simply a more roundabout way to get what you want.

Hats off for addressing this, Daniel. It's the major reason why I read your blog - you always manage to find some rather interesting (and often amusing) piece of perspective on various issues.