1st Edition

America's Allies and the Decline of US Hegemony

Edited By Justin Massie, Jonathan Paquin Copyright 2020
    244 Pages
    by Routledge

    242 Pages
    by Routledge

    How do America’s democratic allies perceive and respond to a relative decline in US power and influence and the simultaneous rise of China? Using the case-studies of Europe, the UK, Australia, Canada, Japan and South East Asian countries, this book offers a broad assessment of the perceptions of threat and the strategies used by these allies to cope with the relative decline of America’s hegemonic power, the rise of China and the transforming world order.



    In answering these central questions, contributors focus on two complementary analytical approaches. The first examines the perceptions of systemic changes by America’s allies: how are US allies framing this issue and what kind of political discourse is emerging with regards to it? The second approach focuses on the concrete foreign policy and defence strategies put forward by these allies. The book explores the extent to which US allies are willing to support US hegemony and considers the democratic allies’ understanding of the international structure, their relations to the United States, and their own aspirations in this changing world order.



    This book will be of interest to general readers as well as scholars and students of US foreign policy, foreign policy analysis and International Relations.

    Introduction - America’s Allies Coping with US Relative Decline

    Justin Massie and Jonathan Paquin

    Part I: Debating US Decline and Power Transition

    Chapter 1 - American Decline: Destined, Chosen, or Contingent?

    Robert J. Lieber

    Chapter 2 - China’s Counter-Hegemony? Evidence from ‘Making Identity Count’

    Srdjan Vucetic

    Chapter 3 - China’s Relations with US Pacific Rim Allies: Tensions Between Trump’s ‘America First’ and Chinese ‘Sharp Power’

    Steven F. Jackson

    Part II: Perceptions And Strategies Of Asia-Pacific Allies

    Chapter 4 - Japanese National Security Policy: Balancing, but Hedging

    Clifton Sherrill

    Chapter 5 - Australia’s Role Conceptions in a Multipolar World

    Cameron G. Thies

    Chapter 6 - Power transition and traditional allies in Southeast Asia

    Ralf Emmers

    Chapter 7 - Canada’s Middle Power Ambivalence: The Palimpsest of US Power Under the Chinese Shadow

    Jeremy Paltiel

    Part III: Perceptions and Strategies Of European Allies

    Chapter 8 - The fraying transatlantic order and Europe’s struggle in a multipolar world

    Riccardo Alcaro

    Chapter 9 - NATO in Crisis – Vanishing Leadership and Distracted Allies

    Trine Flockhart

    Chapter 10 - The European Union’s Evolving Role in Response to US Waning Hegemony

    Simon Schunz and Brice Didier

    Chapter 11 - Making Sense of the Future: European Discourse on Global Power Transition

    Caterina Carta

    Conclusion: Allies and the Fate of U.S. Hegemony

    Justin Massie and Jonathan Paquin

    Biography

    Justin Massie is Associate Professor of political science at the University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada, and Senior Fellow at the Canadian International Council.



    Jonathan Paquin is Professor of Political Science at Université Laval.

    "This volume provides an in-depth analysis of the main challenges that are facing US allies in the midst of the decline of America’s hegemonic power". - Christopher Layne, University Distinguished Professor of International Affairs, Texas A & M University, USA.

    "A very useful volume that addresses the strategic opportunities and constraints that America’s allies and friends face in an era of power transition. The volume also offers some key theoretical elucidations on questions such as hegemony, relative decline, and power transition and what it takes to replace America for a possible contender like China." - T.V. Paul, James McGill Professor of International Relations and author of Restraining Great Powers: Soft Balancing From Empires to the Global Era, 2018.

    "The question of American decline has overwhelmingly focused on US-China dynamics. But American hegemony has relied upon and underpins a host of alliance relationships with their own particular purposes and requirements. As the United States proves less able or less willing to sustain those relationships, US partners will be forced to look to alternative arrangements. In stark terms, this book sets out the fundamental nature of the choices facing America’s allies." - Professor Nicholas Kitchen, London School of Economics, UK.