The United States in a Multipolar World

Four perfectly differentiated areas can be recognized – the United States, the European Union, Russia and China – which in a way, balance one another and make it so that we live in a multipolar world. This polar multiplicity favors the formation of intermediate powers, like Brazil in Latin America, Germany in Europe, Egypt in Africa, and Japan in Asia. Nevertheless, the United States aspires to worldwide supremacy.

Since the end of World War II, the U.S. has been the predominant power in Western Europe. It is a supremacy that extended throughout the entire European continent after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the interim, Germany has developed as an intermediate economic power, though still under the protection of the United States and depending on, like the rest of Europe – with the exception of the United Kingdom and France, which have nuclear arms – the nuclear protection of the United States.

Settled in the American orbit, Germany has decided to save as much as possible on military expenses, like the majority of European states. However, military dependence, in addition to limitations on sovereignty, imposes elevated costs. The new commercial treaty between the United States and the European Union will once again show that military protection comes at a high price. That was the harsh reality experienced by Japanese farmers with the Samurai.

The United States’ worldwide hegemony is not based on technological-industrial capacity or the dollar as an international currency. It is not even based on their control of financial capital, but rather on absolute military supremacy.

What is most surprising, and even paradoxical, is that the United States’ military superiority (its military power is equal to that of the four next most-powerful countries combined) has not prevented the U.S. from losing local wars for the domination of Third World nations (Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq), countries which have clear military and technological weaknesses. That is a testament to the fact that military power serves to contain and discipline developed countries but not to conquer less-developed nations, which can be destroyed but not controlled.

Whether one is a friend or enemy depends on if they belong to the empire or not. Russia and the U.S. use the same production model, and the two nations have similar political orders. However, because Russia is sufficiently vast, rich in natural resources and has enough military strength to ensure their sovereignty, the nation is not included in the U.S. empire. It must therefore be classified as an enemy. All empires are defined by delineating the border between insiders and outsiders.

The desire for worldwide supremacy brings with it the task of labeling friends and enemies: friends who are obedient and enemies who try to stay independent. In principal, a multipolar world that respects a set of common rules of coexistence would require that no one country try to be the best. This is entirely illusory. What is normal among people, groups and even nations is to compete for power. From there, there is no alternative to the friend-enemy reasoning.