From the bipolar world to the multipolarity –

Global geopolitical configurations vary according to the evolution of societies and the transformation of power configurations across countries. Economic, military and political criteria are placed as the main conditions for a country or block of countries to be considered influential, exercising its dominance and power over the others. Throughout history, different phases have marked these correlations of strength.

In current terms, an overview of these transformations can be seen from the last two world orders analyzing changes ranging from the bipolar world The multipolarity, terms used to designate the economic and military powers in evidence on the planet. In the first case, we have the period conventionally called the Cold War, which culminated, at its end, in the New World Order of current geopolitics.

THE BIPOLAR WORLD

At the end of World War II (1939-1945), two major world powers emerged as the politically and militarily predominant nations: the United States and the Soviet Union. In relation to the US, this happened because that country did not suffer major damage in its territories and kept its structural pattern intact, in addition to guaranteeing its position as the main capitalist country. In the case of the USSR, because it was decisive during the international conflict and developed a great military and structural potential then emerging, even though it lost 20 million people in battles and saw many of its cities destroyed.

The later period was then known as the Cold War, because, on the one hand, there was a capitalist orientation front, with a market economy system that sought to expand and consolidate its influence around the world; on the other side, in turn, there was a socialist – or state capitalist – power, with a planned economy system and which also aimed to expand its ideological power throughout the world. The decisive factor was the possession of nuclear weapons by both parties, so that the clash between these two forces would bring serious impacts to humanity and, certainly, no winner.

For this reason, the Cold War was a conflict in which there were no direct battles between the two sides, with only indirect disputes and participation in “minor” wars, such as Vietnam and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Other relevant episodes were the aid and cooperation of these countries to other nations in order to expand their domains, with emphasis on the Marshal Plan created by the USA, in addition to the foundation of the great military organizations: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), on the one hand, and the warsaw pact, from another.

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The term “bipolar world” is used to designate this context, as the global geopolitical order pointed to the dispute between two main countries, which aimed to highlight their dominance and hegemony. Thus, with the crisis of the self-declared “socialist” world and the collapse of the Soviets, the period came to an end with the victory of the capitalist front. The episode considered as a landmark of this process was the fall of the Berlin Wall, in 1989, which divided Germany defeated in World War II between the capitalist countries (USA, France and United Kingdom) and the USSR.

THE MULTIPOLAR WORLD

With the end of the Soviet Union and the fragmentation of the socialist world, the world considered bipolar ceased to exist, causing the United States to exercise unprecedented political hegemony since the emergence of the capitalist system in the world.

At the same time, other capitalist countries also consolidated themselves as the protagonists of the world-system, which abandoned the focus on military power (although it remained important) and expanded the status of countries’ economic power. Thus, the countries of the European Union (mainly Germany, France and England), Japan and, later, China began to share the geopolitical role with the North Americans. Thus arose the multipolar world.

However, this perspective is somewhat questionable. Firstly, it is observed that a comparison between these countries does not place them side by side, but rather with the United States far ahead of the others in economic and also warlike terms, although the Chinese have been showing accelerated levels of growth. Secondly, it is also noted that these countries – except the Chinese – have a certain political alignment, contrary to what had happened in the previous world order, marked by rivalry and permanent tension.

Therefore, other terms are used to designate the current world order, such as the unipolarity or, more commonly, the unimultipolarity, although this is not the subject of consensus. Recently, the more aggressive posture of the government of Russia – the main heiress of the Soviet empire – towards the USA in some issues, such as the conflict in Syria, the tension between the Koreas and the Crisis in Ukraine, has been creating expectations about the return of a new Cold War, given that both countries are large holders of nuclear weapons even today.

By Me. Rodolfo Alves Pena