Niall Ferguson writes in A world without power that "the alternative to a single superpower is not a multilateral utopia, but the anarchic nightmare of a new Dark Age."
If the United States retreats from global hegemony—its fragile self-image dented by minor setbacks on the imperial frontier—its critics at home and abroad must not pretend that they are ushering in a new era of multipolar harmony, or even a return to the good old balance of power.Be careful what you wish for. The alternative to unipolarity would not be multipolarity at all. It would be apolarity—a global vacuum of power. And far more dangerous forces than rival great powers would benefit from such a not-so-new world disorder.
Posted by Paul in Power Politics at July 29, 2004 01:31 PM | 1 Comments
