ABSTRACT

The collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 confirmed the United States as the sole global hegemon; in the two decades since, the United States has influenced world politics while withstanding those forces that resist a unipolar order. This chapter emphasizes security and economic decisions in American foreign policy in this time frame. It estimates the extent to which America’s contemporary superpower behavior has deviated from previous habits. If the post-Cold War world may be described as ever-changing, one may wonder how much US leadership in this era has truly embraced policy change.