U.S. Hegemonic Governance after the Sept. 11 Attacks: Iraq Case
Author: Wen-sheng Chen
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
From the perspective of “global governance”, hegemons are declining andstates are becoming increasingly enmeshed in a network of collaborativearrangements and regimes. However, the U.S. foreign policy after the September 11attacks, especially its war against Iraq on March 19, 2003, is tantamount to declareAmerican hegemony and reflects that the threat and use of force are the ultimateinstruments of international relations.This paper aims to use Iraq case to elucidate the U.S. strategy of “hegemonicgovernance” after the September 11 attacks. The research finds that the U.S. hasexercised its unrivalled power to dominate Iraq through both the “coercivedomination” which realists emphasized and the “consensual domination” whichAntonio Gramsci fought against. Furthermore, it concludes that the U.S. can bypassthe United Nations and disregard international law as it wishes. Accordingly, theU.S. hegemonic governance has a great impact on the mechanism of globalgovernance, and the extent to which the US will exert its strength to maintain itsnational interest will influence future international cooperation.