The Future of Hegemony

Having heard George Bush' speech before the United Nations General 
Assembly, World Systems scholars must ask themselves:  which trajectory is 
going to dominate the history of the 21st Century?  The rise of East Asia?  
Or the collapse of West Asia?

It is interesting to note how the decline of American hegemony bears at 
least one striking resemblance to its opening years.  America entered the 
stage of world hegemony as a superpower overseeing the reconstruction of a 
war torn country.  Around this reconstructive effort was built the larger 
edifice of US hegemony.  I'm thinking of Germany, NATO and the containment 
system in Europe, and Japan, the San Fransisco System and subordinate 
industrialization in East Asia.  In its closing years, America once again 
begins to assume the responsibilities, quite consciously, of rebuilding war 
torn countries:  Afghanistan and Iraq.  The difference, quite obviously, is 
that in the case of Germany and Japan, the American effort was remarkably 
successful whereas in the case of Afghanistan it has already faltered and 
is not expected to fare any better with Iraq.  


Khurram Husain
Lahore,
Pakistan