American Hegemony

The divergence of interest between the rising powers give the tiffany jewelry the opportunity to protect its position by playing them off against each other, a tactic which is a driving force of US foreign policy. It has shown diplomatic subtlety, for example, in capitalising on India's fear of China by extending nuclear cooperation to it and doing so while maintaining relations with Pakistan on whose cooperation it depends for success in the war on terror. The extension of NATO and cultivation of former Soviet republics has been successful in neutralising the threat from the Central Asia. The US has met the African challenge from China by developing its military capacities on that continent with the formation of an Africa Command that has already shown tiffany bangles willingness to intervene in pursuit of US interests that makes China's engagement seem timid by comparison. It is therefore too soon to write the US off as the major player in the increasingly complex web of alliances and competitions that characterise international affairs.The real challenge for the US is to forsake the overarching ambition of the neo-conservatism so influential in the Bush administration and to show increased flexibility in defence of vital interests while giving ground elsewhere. We would be deluding ourselves if we thought that a new administration would simply reverse the Bush policies ([15] Singh and Lynch, 2008). America has long been too intertwined with world tiffany rings to permit a reversion to isolationism but there is scope for a more multilateral approach to, for example, the Middle East, the war on terror, and climate change if the ideological baggage of a mission to extend freedom is dropped.At this point new networks are being driven primarily by trade and the WTO provides a rule-based framework that is flexible enough to incorporate them without overturning the present order. The USA has shown considerable flexibility in adapting to new patterns of trade, but it has been rigid and confrontational on issues of security and natural resources. How well it adapts to these challenges as those opposing it become wealthier and develop independent political and security relationships will determine whether the emerging networks will amount to an alternative to American hegemony as a framework for world governance.