St no: 1B1019
Great power hegemony
There is a question that which system (empire, balance of power, concert of power or great power hegemony) provides the best conditions for advancing peace, prosperity and civilization? There are several opinions about the advantages and disadvantages of each system and the functions, abilities and disabilities of them to maintaining the peace and stability in international arena. But I want to argue on hegemonic power system as a preventer of war among states and a maintainer of peace as comparison to other suggested types of system for advancing peace, stability and civilization in all over the world. Hegemonic power system is the best system for advancing peace, prosperity and preventing war among states comparing to other types of systems such as empire, balance of power, and concert of power. In this paper I will argue that as history of international relations show most wars and conflicts among states occurred in a lack of a hegemonic power because a hegemonic power try to act as a policeman and don’t let the states to start war. If war happens mostly the super power will enter the war to stop it because the hegemonic power does see itself as a policeman to have the right to intervene. So, hegemonic power is good for making peace and stability in the world. There are many reasons that great power hegemony system could be the best option for developing peace and preventing the war. It is clear that two world wars happened in the absence of a great hegemonic power. For example if in the 1910s there was great power hegemony the First World War may did not happen. In addition, hegemonic power system naturally makes its allies and don’t want to go just for its own interest but also look for others as well. In contrast in balance of power each actor in the system try to pursue its national interests and want to increase the power in terms of military or other resources.
References: 1. Luard, Evan. The balance of power: The System of International Relations, 1648 – 1815, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1992. 2. Kennedy, Paul, The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, Random House, New York, 1987 3 [ 3 ]. . Journal of peace research, 1964-2007 (Vols. 1-44), http://www.jstor.org/stable/422972?seq=3