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It Is Time for Multipolarity

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It Is Time for Multipolarity
KU LEUVEN
FACULTEIT SOCIALE WETENSCHAPPEN MASTER OF SCIENCE IN DE VERGELIJKENDE EN INTERNATIONALE POLITIEK

It Is Time For Multipolarity
An Empirical Answer to Ikenberry

Prof. Dr. B. KERREMANS International Political Economy November 12, 2012

By P. B.

It is Time For Multipolarity – An Empirical Answer to Ikenberry In the article “the liberal international order and its discontents” (Ikenberry, 2010), the author argues about the current global crisis. The author states that it is not a crisis of the principles and organizational logic of the order but a crisis of American (US) authorities and its ultipolar hegemonic position within this order. This article tries to find empirical evidence for this claim while it seeks for answers to the following questions; What is the current position of the US in the international liberal order, to what extent is this liberal international order in crisis and is the world ready for a more multipolar approach of this liberal international order? To find an answer to these questions the article will first specify several concepts that are related to the current position of the US within the order and the multipolar approach of international politics. Furthermore, the conclusion will give an answer to the questions mentioned above. The Status Quo of the American-led International order The international liberal order is an open-rule based system with the focus on expanding forms of institutional cooperation (Ikenberry, 2010). To indicate the position of the US within this system, this article uses four important international political aspects: economic progress, governance, law and security. For each aspect a graph will show the position of the US compared with potential counterweighted states, who are greatly in need of rethinking the areas mentioned above: BRICS and the European Union (EU). Economic Welfare The GDP (PPP) is a common measure for the total national economic activity of a state. It is not a measure for


References: Ferguson, C. (Director) (2010). Inside Job. Sony Pictures Classic. Ikenberry, G.J. (2010) The Liberal International Order and Its Discontents. Journalof International studies: Millenium IMF World Economic Outlook Database (2012). Retrieved November 8th 2012 from the IMF Website: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2012/01/weodata/index.aspx Karns, M. P., & Mingst, K. A. (2010). International organizations. The politics and processes of global governance. (2nd ed.). Colorado: Rienner. List of UN member states. (2006). Retrieved November 7, 2012 from the United Nations Web Site: http://www.un.org/en/members/index.shtml Membership of the IMF. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 20120 from the IMF Web Site: http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/memdir/memdate.htm Members and observers WTO. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2012 from the WTO Web Site: http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/org6_e.htm The States Parties to the Rome Statute. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2012 from the ICC Web Site: http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ASP/states parties/ United Nations Development Program, (1994). Human development report (Chapter 2). Retrieved November, 11 from the UN Development Program Web Site: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr_1994_en_chap2.pdf United Nations Secretariat (2010). Assessment of member states ' contribution to the united nations regular budget for the year 2011 (ST/ADM/SER.B/824). Retrieved from United Nations Secretariat website: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=ST/ADM/SER.B/824   6
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