Study on the Position of the Unites States in World Politics - Research Paper Example

ormation of a nation’s view about its importance and role in the world, but also, and perhaps more importantly, determine the manifestations of thus conceived role in trade, culture, diplomacy or war2. In the realm of world politics, however, the position of a state in the international system, along with interstate interactions, is the subject matter of a particular area of study, namely International Relations, usually defined as protracted competition between realist, liberal and radical traditions, or schools of thought3.

Realism, as the dominant theoretical tradition throughout the second half of the twentieth century, most notably the Cold War, describes international affairs as “a struggle for power among self-interested states” within an anarchic environment, where each state seeks to survive on its own4. Liberalism, in turn, includes various theories such as some that regard the interactions between domestic actors – either in the political, societal or economic spheres – as the most important explanatory factors, as well as others that are predominantly focused on political constitutions, economic systems or dominant ideologies5.

This paper is intended to examine the set of domestic and international factors and developments that brought about or/and facilitated the US rise to the position of global superpower during the twentieth century, in order to determine whether or not the country is able to retain this position in the years or decades to come. Being based on historical evidence, as well as taking into consideration the theoretical discourse on the basic forces that shape international outcomes6, the paper attempts an insight into China’s ability to challenge or successfully contest the current US supremacy.

Historians widely agree that America’s isolationism from the early twentieth century, i.e. from the 1920s to 1940s, should be ascribed to then domestic political priorities such as the commitment to economic development and