Over the “Hege”mony and to Multipolarity

The international system has experienced many of the different polarities throughout history. If you even look at the past 30 years the international system has been both bipolar and unipolar. After World War II a transition of power occurred as the United States and the Soviet Union became Super Powers. Their different visions of the world prompted a Cold War and caused the international system to be bipolar. After the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union the international system became unipolar with the United States and its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as the hegemonic power. Since the end of the Cold War the international system has remained unipolar. The United States still has supreme power in the international system, but within the next 25 years, a transition of power will occur forming a multipolar world dethroning the United States from their hegemony.
In the Neorealsim field today there is a debate on whether the current international system is unipolar or multipolar. People who view it as multipolar see other great powers arising and International Government Organizations have an influence on international politics. Although this is true, the United States of America and NATO still have a greater influence above all other actors in today’s international system, making it a unipolar system. A system that is unipolar can be defined as a center of power in which all others revolve. NATO’s military force, economic influence, and foreign intervention exemplifies their role as the sole Super Power in today’s international system.
A way one actor can show their superiority over another actor is through their military. The United States of America has over 125 military bases in 25 foreign countries. According to Catherine Lutz, director of the Watson Institute's Costs of War, the missions of military bases include keeping the status quo, surrounding enemies, launching attacks on other countries, and influencing