ABSTRACT
The United States leads the world in exploiting the military applications of advanced communications and information technology and it has demonstrated an unrivaled ability to coordinate and process information about the battlefield and destroy targets from afar with extraordinary precision.Washington is not making it easy for others to catch up, moreover, given the massive gap in spending on military research and development (R&D), on which the United States spends three times more than the next six powers combined. If today's American primacy does not constitute unipolarity, then nothing ever will. The only things left for dispute are how long it will last and what the implications are for American foreign policy. The first and most important practical consequence of unipolarity for the United States is notable for its absence: the lack of hegemonic rivalry. The second major practical consequence of unipolarity is the unique freedom it offers American policymakers.
