The End of Hegemony: Technologies of a New Tripolar World

Abstract

The era of US global hegemony is drawing to a close. Within the next quarter century, revolutionary technological developments and new military capabilities will fracture the geopolitical strategic landscape, propelling todays near peer states into a parity position with the US. A shift to an information-centric globe will see ongoing conflict over the control of information through the new global commons of space and cyberspace. Technological advances in these areas coupled with the deterrent value of nuclear weapons will reduce the effectiveness of US conventional forces, and US interests will be challenged on a global scale. A new reality of continuous conflict over information will emerge in space and cyberspace where it will not be possible for a single state to maintain dominance. Through a deliberate focus on information and space control technologies, China and Russia are positioned to gain strategic military parity with the United States, resulting in the emergence of a new tri-polar world.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 15, 2012
Accession Number
AD1018112

Entities

People

  • Paul R. Fiorenza

Organizations

  • Air War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Cyber
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Satellites
  • Chemical Oxygen Iodine Lasers
  • Computer Networks
  • Cyberspace Operations
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • Information Warfare
  • Microsatellites
  • Military Applications
  • Military Doctrine
  • Military Operations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare
  • Weapons Effects

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Asian Economic Studies
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Cyber
  • Space