Explaining the New World Order of the 1990's
Abstract
The decade of the 1990s dramatically altered the Cold War international order in two fundamental aspects. In the political-economic sphere, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 shattered the ideological divide that had driven much of the policy-making during the Cold War. The new Russia and its former eastern European client states rushed to adopt Western economic and political models, albeit with varying degrees of success. The handful of avowedly Marxist states, such as Fidel Castro's Cuba and Kim Il Sung's Democratic People's Republic of Korea, remained mired in despotism and economic ruin. The People's Republic of China gradually became Communist in name only as it sought to adopt market capitalism and limited democratic reforms to modernize its moribund economy. The two books I review in this paper attempt to explain why these tectonic changes occurred in the international order during the 1990s and what implications these changes herald for the future. In Empire, authors Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri propose a new emerging system of international order based on an ultimately successful Marxist theory. In Culture and Carnage: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power, Victor Davis Hanson proposes that the West's hegemony is derived from its cultural vibrancy which produced political, economic and military institutions far superior to anything in the non-Western world. Hardt and Negri have the much harder task. Despite their enormous efforts, they ultimately fail to validate Marxist theory as a viable predictor of the evolving world order. In contrast, Hanson has an easier job explaining why the West has won. His work convincingly shows that the West's military proficiency is directly attributed to its unique culture.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA442659
Entities
People
- Thomas P. Snyder
Organizations
- National War College