US as a Superpower

For forty-five years in the aftermath of World War II, the international order hinged on what political scientists call the bipolar system. It was an order based on the rivalry between the two Superpowers — the United States and the U.S.S.R. — and their allies. U.S. foreign policy strategy was focused on the principles of containment and mutual deterrence (Daschle, 1996; Schwartz, 1996). The fall of communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union has …

…nearly as likely to arise as part of the unintended consequences of economic, environmental and political instability in the South as from the intended actions of “rogue states,” the U.S. and its international partners cannot afford to ignore or “insulate themselves” from the Third World. The U.S., along with its other international developed partners, has both a responsibility and a need to encourage and facilitate sustainable growth and development in the Third World.