Decline of American Hegemony: The Meaning of Power Transition in the World System and Implications for Policy Making

The US hegemony seems to be on decay since the second decade of the twenty-first century. since most of America›s economic and military rivals, are rising from Asia, this amazing transition marks a historic re-location of power centers from the West eastward, and the end of Western civilization›s domination over global culture and politics, distinguishing this era from previous power transition processes in modern times. In spite of a general consensus among scholars about the happening of this transition, many disagreements still remain over the meaning of and the extent to which this process may affect the world›s peace and security. The main question is whether the demise of US hegemony will lead to less conflicts across the world, or will it result in re-emergence and re-activation of several international and regional disputes which had been checked over the past decades, due to the domination
of American world order? This paper concludes that before arriving into a multipolar or multiplex system, the world will go through an era of chaos and disorder. It is, therefore, necessary for all countries, including Iran, to prepare themselves for encountering with a variety of new threats rising from this situation. In this regard, regionalism would be one of the best strategies.