Transformation of Power and Polarity in the Post-Soviet World Order: Hegemony, Great Power Politics and Pakistan's Strategic Role

Abstract

The study is based on realist understanding of hegemony, great power politics, balancing and national interests, this paper analyzes the change in power and polarity in the post-Soviet world order with a specific focus on the significant role of Pakistan in the new and more contested international order. The end of the Soviet Union has generated a remarkable consolidation of material and institutional power in the U.S. and the ensuing ascendance of China, strategic comeback of Russia, and increasing agency of regional and middle powers have continually complicated the unipolarity. There has been no consensus on the nature of this shift in the existing scholarship, answering the questions of whether the shift is towards multipolarity, to a multiplex order, or to a new version of America's continued dominance. The study is a qualitative research design, using 23 in-depth interviews with academics, foreign-policy specialists, strategic-affairs researchers and practitioners, who were purposively selected. In its analytical framework it relies on realism and on current debates on hedging, hegemonic order and power transition. The study brings to light six themes: redistribution of global power, changing polarity, continuity and constraints of the dominance of the USA, China and Russia as sources of contestation of the system, ‘hedging and strategic autonomy' among secondary states, and Pakistan's constructive strategic role. The results show a growing differentiation in the international scene, with America still dominant but more limited; and Pakistan's need to create strategic space by working on connectivity, diversifying diplomacy and multilateralism.