Description
The US is still the most powerful state in the international system, and it is very difficult for a peer competitor to measure up to the US in the near to medium term. Whilst the system is still unipolar, the US is no longer in a position to fall for the hegemon’s temptation. There are two different unipolar moments. The first one lasted from the end of the Cold War to until about 2008 and that is when the US fell for the hegemon’s temptation. The US recovered from the financial crisis of 2008 remarkably, but it has not been in a position to fall for the hegemon’s temptation since then. In the second unipolar moment, whilst rivals are not able to balance against the US, they are no longer afraid to engage in revisionist behaviour. The US, therefore, needs functioning alliances in this second unipolar moment. Whilst during the first unipolar moment, the US could engage in wars of choice, it now needs to be more restrained and nurture its alliances with a view to strengthening its own response to the revisionist behaviour of rival great powers. I exemplify this with reference to the US relationship with its European allies after the Russian-Ukrainian war and I critically discuss how safe the second unipolar moment is.
