Great Power Competition In The Twenty-First Century

Rather than a new phenomenon, competition, and hence the possibility of conflict, between states – as well as cooperation – has existed as long as states have interacted. While the particularities of great power competition have ebbed and flowed over the past decades, the twenty-first century has seen a return to “normal” as competition between states has translated into open conflict, such as the war in Ukraine, while interdependence due to globalization, renders inter-state conflicts, as well as strategic rivalries, increasingly complex. Even as the US is redefining its engagement with the world and the US and China are geopolitical facts no country can ignore, other countries will not necessarily be constrained to a binary, fully aligned with one over the other. Rather, states, including throughout the Global South, will likely pursue policies that still maximize their strategic national autonomy within the constraints of their respective realities.

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