AgeismSocial StratificationSocial ChangeBipolar SystemSocial SciencesLongevityInternational PoliticsTwentieth CenturyNonpolarity DifferGeopoliticsInternational RelationsInternational Relation TheoryComparative PoliticsWorld PoliticsInternationalism (Politics)Global PoliticsLater AdulthoodPolitical ScienceWorld-systems Theory
The twentieth century started out distinctly multipolar. But after almost 50 years, two world wars, and many smaller conflicts, a bipolar system emerged. Then, with the end of the Cold War and the demise of the Soviet Union, bipolarity gave way to unipolarity -an international system dominated by one power, in this case the United States. But today power is diffuse, and the onset of nonpolarity raises a number of important questions. How does nonpolarity differ from other forms of international order? How and why did it materialize? What are its likely consequences? And how should the United States respond?