China's Role in the Post-Corona System; Entering the Third Stage of the Power Cycle

In 2019, the world was faced with the outbreak of a pandemic that few thought at first would turn into a global crisis. With the name Covid-19, this disease had such an influence capacity that some people talk about the world before and after it. Because although it started as a medical crisis and then progressed to a social crisis, it finally showed itself as a global threat with geopolitical effects. Therefore, studying the relationship between this disease and the structure of the international system highlights the importance of conducting this research. Thus, this research, focusing on the hegemonic capabilities of China as the primary challenger to America's supremacy, raises the question; China’s increasing influence in the post-corona system is based on what kind of scenario and can Beijing enter the phase of replacing the hegemon? The results of the research based on the mixed approach (qualitative and quantitative) and in the framework of scenario-planning showed that more than being a turning point in the direction of the change of hegemony, the coronavirus, as an accelerating element, brought China into the third stage of the power cycle, which is the delegitimization of American hegemony.