What are different natures of hegemony? Explain.
Hegemony is an international system to dominate world by only one superpower. The natures of hegemony can be found out as follows:
(i) Hegemony as Hard Power:
(a) It is based on the military capability between the states.
(b) The US military dominance is based on their higher expenditures on military as well as the technological know-how.
(c) The US bears military dominance in both the terms i.e. absolute and relative. In absolute terms the US military capabilities can reach any point on the planet and no other power can be a match to them.
(ii) Hegemony as Structural Power:
(a) It is based on economic factors of the world dominated by the hegemonic power.
(b) Hegemony must sustain global structure to establish certain norms for order and the US has set up Bretton Woods System.
(c) The US hegemony has provided the global public goods to be consumed by one person without reducing the amount available for someone else as SLoCs and the Internet, MBA degree.
(iii) Hegemony as Soft Power:
(a) To dominate world even in reference of cultural dimensions i.e. class ascendancy in social, political and ideological spheres.
(b) The US hegemony has the capacity to create manufacturing consent' by the class to be dominated by the hegemon.
(c) The ‘blue jeans' from the US is capable to engineer even a generational divide.
"The US hegemony does not dominate the world only as hard and structural power but as a soft power also."Justify the statement.
Give an example each of the three types of hegemony that are dealt within the chapter. Do not cite examples that are in the chapter.
What military actions were taken by Clinton government despite their lack of interest were different from military power?
In reference of structural power mention the global public goods by which the US established its hegemony?
"The US did not start behaving like a hegemonic power right from 1991, it became clear much later that world was living in fact in a period of hegemony". Examine the statement.
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions:
During the Cold War years, India found itself on the opposite side of the divide from the US. India's closest friendship during those years was with the Soviet Union. After the collapse of Soviet Union, India suddenly found itself friendless in an increasingly hostile international environment. However, these were also the years when India decided to liberalise its economy and integrate it with the global economy. This policy and India's impressive economic growth rate made the country an attractive economic partner for a number of countries including the US.
1. Name the country which was India's closest friend during Cold War years.
2. What was India's policy during post Cold War years?
3. What made India an attractive economic partner for the countries like the US?
How far is it correctYo say that the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre was the attack on the US hegemony? Explain.
1. What is prudent during a period of hegemony?
2. What benefits can be acquired within the hegemonic system?
3. What is the bandwagon strategy?
Mention three ways in which US dominance since the Cold War is different from its position as a superpower during the Cold War.
Study the picture given below and answer the questions that follow:
1. How long do you think the US will stay on the superpower stage?
2. Except China, who can be shown as waiting in the wings?
3. What is being represented in the cartoon?
4. Why China has been represented as waiting in the wings?
On a political outline map of the world locate and label the following and symbolise them as indicated:
1. The country Iraq invaded in Aug. 1990.
2. The country in the presidentship of Saddam Hussein.
3. The country referred to as a hegemonic power.
4. The Operation Infinite Reach was launched against these countries.
"If big and resourceful states cannot resist the US hegemony, it is unrealistic to expect much smaller and weaker non-state actors to offer any resistance". Examine this proposition and give your opinion.
What are the constraints on American hegemony today? Which one of these do you expect to get more important in the future?
Read the three extracts in the chapter from Lok Sabha debate on the Indo-US deal. Develop any one of these into a full speech defending a certain position on Indo-US relations.
