What Are the Implications of Thucydides' and/or Machiavelli's Writings for Us Hegemony Today?

emerging as major powers, many argue that U.S. dominance will soon be eclipsed, and what is known

Many other countries had similar ideals but different forms of government; America’s commitment to republicanism caused them to push their ideals on other smaller countries. Bradford Perkins explores the concept of a distorted prism, which he believes effects how America looks at the world and the effect it has on the development of the United States foreign policy. In his scholarly essay, “The Unique American Prism” Perkins believes America views herself as a model for the world to follow. These American ideals of individualism and republicanism are the main concepts discussed within the essay; he mentions how people distort the prism by their own personal experiences with which allows them to perceive the world as less than equal to America’s superiority. This can lead to problems in foreign policy due to the superiority complex. Perkins views this American exceptionalism as detrimental to foreign relations. He believes in isolation from foreign wars and conflicts, but is irresolute to decide if America’s global market should be expanded through foreign

Action from necessity is a constantly recurring theme in Thucydides’ The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War. A sentiment used to explain the growth of the Athenian Empire which some Athenians espoused to an assembly at Sparta best quantifies necessity, “. . . we were necessarily compelled at first to advance the hegemony to where it is—especially by fear, and then by honor, and later by benefit.” (Selected Passages 1.75.3). This claim, referred to as the Athenian Thesis, is used to advance the two following implications: all states act with the motivations of fear, honor and interest and no one can condemn a state for doing so. The Athenian Thesis influences the way many of the Athenian elite structure their patterns of reasoning in both noticeable and subtle ways.

The cohesive strength of an American empire lies not in the hard power capabilities of the USA to enforce their will, but in the loose and forgiving way in which it rules

The United States rise to world power and how it spread around the globe seems to be the main arguments of the author. This uprising by the US started in 1776 by rebelling against the British Empire. After the US victory against the British Empire, the United States established their own government by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and other founders. These new government was like the British Empire but more decent, democratic, and without corruption. Therefore, the author explores and goes in historical facts about this growing American Empire that seems to extend around the globe.

Robert O. Keohane, “From After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy,” in

At this point in time, the main actors in the international system are nation-states seeking an agenda of their own based on personal gain and national interest. Significantly, the most important actor is the United States, a liberal international economy, appointed its power after the interwar period becoming the dominant economy and in turn attained the position of hegemonic stability in the international system. The reason why the United States is dominating is imbedded in their intrinsic desire to continuously strive for their own national interest both political and economic. Further, there are other nature of actors that are not just nation-states, including non-states or transnational,

The second World War brought untold suffering to million across the globe, but it also launched the United States into the position of a superpower for the next 50 years. With the utter destruction of nations across Europe, Africa, and Asia, both winners and losers, America easily assumed a dominant position in the coming international system and captured the ability to reconstruct the world using its high democratic ideals. The United States was the most powerful nation in the world. It is said that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and with postwar America it was no different. Given the unilateral power to spread its ideals of self-determination, liberty, equality, and individualism; America instead effectively subverted these principles not only around the world, but domestically as well. The unlimited global power and Cold War paranoia of the postwar years to the assassination of John F. Kennedy proved a fatal mixture to American ideals. As World War II came to a close, the United States gained the world as the most powerful country on earth; But to maintain this power it sadly reverted to the imperalism abraod and the Red Scare at home; its reversion made her loose her soul. These hypocritical actions and policies shaped a new world not set by democratic and liberal ideals of FDR’s “Four Points,” but by the power motivated creeds of repression, greed, and violence. In the race to fill the power vacuum created by World War II, the United States abandoned its civic

In his book Restraint: A New Foundation for U.S. Grand Strategy, Barry P. Posen argues against the current U.S. Grand Strategy of Liberal Hegemony and offers Restraint as an alternative. Since World War II, the U.S. has relied on Liberal Hegemony, which emphasizes military action. After the Cold War, Liberal Hegemony gained support as the U.S. dominated the unipolar order with the desire to spread democracy. Posen argues that Liberal Hegemony has performed poorly and will continue to underperform. The strategy is costly, wasteful, and counterproductive because it increases military costs, underestimates the U.S.'s strength, and depends too much on a disappearing U.S. power advantage.

President Donald Trump took office on Friday, January 20, 2017, he started with an inaugural address that was striking for both its bleakness and its constitutional promise of a better future. Donald Trump’s inauguration has sparked a reassessment of America’s role in the world through the president’s statements about its interaction with international institutions and its willingness to intervene in foreign conflicts. Debates about the nature of American power, and whether it constitutes a modern ‘empire’, have been on-going for decades. In the past many scholars have had varying interpretations about the idea of American exceptionalism. American exceptionalism can be seen negatively, but for others it is an empowering concept. There are

In truth, its history dates back as far as the sixteenth century, following the first great expansion of European capitalism, which resulted in slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism (Ezema, 2009). Throughout history, world powers have continually sought to perpetuate their way of life: from the philosophy and mythology of the Greeks, the political ideologies and linguistics of the Romans, and the art and architecture of the Italian Renaissance (Daghrir, 2013). Thus, it comes as no surprise that the aftermath of the post-war era, which saw the collapse of Soviet communism and the emergence of the United States as the sole hegemon, saw the aggressive spread of American ideals, values, and beliefs. Indeed, just as American goods flooded world markets in the post-World War II era; American culture now penetrates every continent through the aggressive development of mass communications, trade expansion and information technology.

The Athenians believed they had been wronged and that “the strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must” (CCW 57). The Melian Dialogue is a commentary on the impact of power hungry nations and how a haughty approach is often unnecessary and leads to conflicts that could otherwise be avoided. The independent variable is the domination sought after by acquisitive unions such as the Athenians. The dependent variable is the war and tyranny that can result from hostility between such prideful nations. Furthermore, the theory that amity equals weakness is presented in The Melian Dialogue by the Athenians. The Athenians respond to the Melians request for neutrality by stating that “your hostility cannot so much hurt us as your friendship will be an argument to our subjects of our weakness” (CCW 57). According to the Athenians, equality represented impotence and vulnerability. The independent variable is the superiority necessary to prove strength and power. The dependent variable is the way in which other nations perceived the Athenians regarding their capability and vehemence.

Many strategies have been devised by empires over centuries, these strategies and decisions have helped shape the world as it is in its present state. The author explains how strategic decisions made in the past were the wrong decisions in his opinion, as John Perkins had seen first hand the devastation that could be caused by the American government in its pursuit for a “global empire”.

The Next Decade, a novel by George Friedman, talks about the predictions of countries in the upcoming decade and how the United States should react to the various challenges. The novel’s first major claim is that the United States is actually an empire, similar to how Rome and Great Brian were. However, unlike the previous empires, the United States refuses to acknowledge its status as an empire. “What makes the United States an empire is the number of countries it affects, the intensity of the impact, and the number of people in those countries affected.” The implication of this quote is that the US has gotten to be so large, if the US decided to draw out of global affairs, the impact would be detrimental. Instead of escaping its duty to the world, Friedman claims that the United States must acknowledge its status as an empire and function as such in order to maneuver the next decade. This claim is a wise claim made by Friedman, but it his only claim of worth in the novel. In The Next Decade, Friedman fails to make his thesis credible because he doesn’t his sources, provide logical arguments on his predications of the future, or examine alternative possibilities.

In the early 1990s, Joseph Nye’s book Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature Of American Power ignited a huge discussion among society of the need to transition from America’s traditional use of hard power to something more benign which he termed soft power. Before looking at the two branches of power, we first define power as the ability to do something or act in a certain way. As Nye had pointed out, nations can wield power in two forms, soft and hard power. Soft power, as coined by Nye (1990) is defined as “the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion.” In contrast, hard power is seen as the use of military might or economic sanctions to coerce others into