Illusions of superpower

Bibliographic Data

ID6233626
AuthorsYale H Ferguson (Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume11
Issue2
Pages21-36
Publication date2003-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0218-5377 • E-ISSN: 1750-7812
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02185370308434225
OpenAlexW2018941476
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited28

This article recalls the perennial debates in international relations theory regarding power, applied to the common assumption that the United States is a "superpower" and especially the "War on Terror." There have been startingly different assessments of the power of the United States since the end of World War II. A central problem derives from bad theory, specifically realism and its familiar list of "power factors" that supposedly contribute to the overall power of a state. The United States rates highly on any such list, but the exercise is very misleading. Each power factor has a "downside". Power is always relative to actor(s), issues, and context; quality leadership matters and "soft power" in its several dimensions is also extremely important. In these respects, the power exercised by the present George W. Bush Administration is narrowly military and poorly suited to combating terror or exercising influence in global politics generally

Cognitive psychology · Illusion · Political science · Politics · Superpower · Law · Psychology

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