The empire strikes back or prospects for US foreign policy after the global financial and economic crisis?

Abstract

The global financial and economic crisis is the defining force shaping contemporary international politics. Its effects have devastated economies throughout the world and shattered illusions about global political and economic power, particularly US power. The present article argues that the effects on US foreign policy will depend on the magnitude and severity of the global crisis. Initially, the crisis will involve constraints on the resources for aid, diplomacy, and defence. Subsequently, a deepening of the crisis will affect the more fundamental issues of the politicaleconomic philosophy underlying US global power. While the crisis has revealed the changing position of the leading states relative power, it is argued that is still premature to declare the end of US hegemony. The US can adapt to the international challenges and recast its foreign policy in order to maintain a dominant position in the international system.