ISBN : 9782296065321
UNIPOLAR AND MULTIPOLAR ILLUSIONS, CULTURAL AND CIVILIZATIONAL REALITIES
Seyom Brown
The contemporary political structure of world society and its pattern of cultural identifications conform neither to fashionable concepts of "unipolarity" or "multipolarity," nor to the unhelpful fantasy of a "clash of civilizations."' Ali of these intellectual constructs vastly oversimplify the structural and cultural realities of the evolving global polity which, I argue, is best conceived of as polyarchic — a system of volatile and cross-cutting alignments and antagonisms in which partners on one issue may be determined opponents on other issues, and durable multilateral commitments, let alone institutions, are difficult to sustain. The basic problem with polyarchy...