ABSTRACT
There are several road trends that are driving events, shaping behaviour and influencing outcomes in contemporary world politics. Of these, some of the more significant are technology-induced telescoping of time and space, cultural hybridization and religious revival, the shift in the global centre of gravity from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the multiplier effect of lethal technologies in the cause of insurgency and resistance, and the emergence of common global concerns about the fragile planetary ecosystem. However, this listing seems curiously incomplete until we add US hegemony to the top of our list. The purpose of this chapter, first of all, is to analyse the nature of American hegemony. A second objective is to cast our eyes towards possible responses to American hegemony. Here we construct a typology of Indian grand strategic thought and ask how effective these various postures might be. Finally, we return to some thoughts on the constraints on American power and the theory of hegemony.
