New World Order

For most of the post-Cold War era, the international system revolved around a single dominant power: the United States. American military superiority, the dominance of the dollar, Western technological leadership, and institutions created after the Second World War shaped what many described as a “rules-based international order.” Yet in the early twenty-first century, another power has emerged with the ambition, economic strength, and geopolitical patience necessary to challenge that system: China.