International Systems: Cold War's Bipolarity Revisited
| Autor: | Daksueva, Olga, 歐莉亞 |
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| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Druh dokumentu: | 學位論文 ; thesis |
| Popis: | 亞太研究英語博士學位學程(IDAS) 106 In International Relations theory, the system level of analysis is one of the least studied. Although it was touched upon in a number of grand masterpieces written decades ago, there is no consensus on many key definitions. Consequently, this study attempts to clarify and operationalize neorealist theory of international systems, and more importantly, to test it on existing international systems in ancient times and the Cold War period. The study provides an alternative vision of the Cold War era as not being a reference example of bipolarity, but rather a modern example of two unipolar coexisting systems. In particular, the separate analysis of economic, political, and military interactions among states that existed in different years of the Cold War period demonstrates a division between the two international systems: US-led and USSR-led, created by the structural changes that occurred at the aftermath of the Second World War. Furthermore, the United States and the Soviet Union established unipolar orders within their respective systems based on international institutions and a network of multilateral and bilateral alliances. Both unipoles used various economic, political, and military tools to maintain the dominancy within the respective systems. Nevertheless, unlike the West system, the Soviet counterpart collapsed due to the breakup of the unipole. By studying the Cold War systems, the current study attempts to solve the puzzle why bipolarity as defined by Kenneth N. Waltz lasted only four decades and interprets the Soviet system’s collapse through an interaction analysis. This study hypothesizes that the structural change came from an increasing level of interactions with the outside world. Finally, the thesis attempts to offer analysis and predictions regarding the current system. It is under changes due to redistribution of capabilities within the West system. China’s rise in the last decade changed the capabilities’ distribution. This transition allows us to speculate that the US-led international system established after the Second World War is now challenged by rising powers, such as China, Russia, India, and a united Europe. This situation will probably lead to a return to multipolarity such as the one that existed before the Second World War. |
| Databáze: | Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations |
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