WITH the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States assumed that it would dominate the world as the unrivaled hegemon. Yet the US "unipolar" moment proved to be short-lived. US geopolitical dominance ended with the rise of China, the recovery of Russia from the period of Soviet collapse and the rapid development of India. We have arrived at a new multipolar age.
The US still fights to remain the world hegemon, but this is delusional and doomed to fail. The US is in no position to lead the world, even if the rest of the world were to want it, which is not the case. The US share of world output (at international prices) is 16 percent and declining, down from about 27 percent in 1950 and 21percent in 1980. China's share is 19 percent. China's manufacturing output is roughly twice that of the US, and China rivals the US in cutting-edge technologies.
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