ABSTRACT

What will the current global political order look like when American unipolarity ends? Historically, the power configurations of world political systems have been defined by four structures: multipolarity, tripolarity, bipolarity, and unipolarity. These concepts inform both the formulation and the analysis of short-term policies and long-term, grand strategies of powerful actors in the world political order and may be of profound importance to the future peace and stability of the global system.

The concept of nonpolarity, however, has never been addressed as a possible or a potential structural formulation in the nomenclature of global political systems. This book provides a coherent conceptualization of nonpolarity and how diplomacy will operate in a more collective age, and fits into the ongoing discussion about the nature of the political world order as we approach the end of the "American century."

chapter 1|11 pages

Engaging polarity

An introduction

chapter 3|10 pages

Between the conceptual and the analytical

Engaging the theoretical framework

chapter 4|29 pages

The Far Eastern World Political System

chapter 6|26 pages

The Indic World Political System

chapter 7|33 pages

The Mediterranean World Political System

chapter 8|23 pages

The Medieval World Political System

chapter 9|22 pages

The Global Political System

chapter 10|18 pages

After polarity

Findings and aftermath