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For centuries, the nations of the "West" and their imperial predecessors have wielded immense global power and influence. But is that era of dominance starting to wane, or are predictions of Western decline merely a delusion? This question cuts to the core of understanding our modern world's shifting dynamics.
Illustration by The Geostrata
THE COLLECTIVE WEST AND ITS RISE
Before we begin, the elephant that needs to be addressed is “What Exactly is the West?”. In common parlance, the West is often used as a loose word to refer to the United States and its transatlantic partners who share common political and cultural values. These are libertarian values which generally include democracy, capitalism, open economic systems, free market economics, and free trade.
Historically, the imprint of the ancient Greek empire in matters of democracy, and philosophy among others is imbibed in the principles of the Western world.
The expansion of the Roman Empire further spread these Hellenic roots across the world. The adoption of Christianity by almost all of Europe as its main religion perhaps unified and cemented the idea of the West.
The West as we know it today, a confluence of multiple states with shared culture, began its ascent to global hegemony through an intricate tapestry of geographical, cultural, economic, and military factors woven together over hundreds of years. The rise of the West can't be attributed to any single factor, it will be an oversimplification and quite unfair.
It was during the Renaissance (14th- 17th centuries) and Enlightenment (late 17th and the 18th centuries) eras that Western nations solidified their intellectual and technological advantages through extensive promotion of rational empiricism, innovation, and capitalist economic systems. Historian William H. McNeill in his book "The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community" (1963) mentions the same.
Momentous breakthroughs like the printing press, laws of motion and gravity, germ theory, and industrialization all originated in Western Europe.
Yet for all their intellectual achievements, the true rise and formation of Western empires lies perhaps in brutality and violence, in their colonial past, in their bloodbath and extensive exploitation of resource-rich territories and states over centuries. Colonialism enabled the empires to spread quickly, grow their influence, boost their economic power and further establish themselves.
Through a variety of strategies, colonialism allowed empires to expand rapidly, increase their economic might, and solidify their position in society. Empires were able to expand their influence over the world by acquiring enormous regions and resources through territorial expansion.
The economic exploitation of colonies facilitated commerce and capital creation by giving access to captive markets, inexpensive labor, and raw commodities. The colonizers' language, religion, and morals were enforced through cultural imperialism, which increased their power. Colonies provided strategic military benefits by offering resources for force projection and outposts.
For instance, renowned economist Utsa Patnaik calculated that the British benefitted nearly 45 trillion USD from India during the period 1765 to 1938.
The incredible wealth extraction that fueled Western industrialism was built upon human bondage and subjugation. One can say that perhaps colonialism and wars powered the West. World Wars only brought them closer.
The United States became the dominant force in the West following World War II and the start of the Cold War, aggressively fostering transatlantic cohesion with programs like NATO and the Marshall Plan. NATO acted as a potent military alliance against the Soviet bloc, while the Marshall Plan offered financial assistance for the reconstruction of Western Europe.
In an effort to promote economic union and collaboration among Western European countries sympathetic to the United States, the United States also backed the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC) in the 1950s, which subsequently became the European Union. Its economic strength, sway over currency and oil and military strength have heavily contributed to this ascension of the US as the “messiah” of a unipolar world.
ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY - US HEGEMONY
One could argue that the West's most valuable modern resources are no longer precious metals or fertile farmlands, but rather global technological superiority - especially of the digital variety. From microchips and satellite networks down to consumer smartphones and apps, Western nations and corporations have exerted overwhelming dominance.
Android OS, developed by Google and Apple’s iOS together control more than 99% of the mobile Operating System sector. The global satellite manufacturing market is dominated by US companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, along with European companies like Airbus and Thales Alenia Space.
The unrivalled innovation engines of U.S. tech titans like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook have allowed these firms to comprehensively infiltrate worldwide markets and infrastructure. Billions globally utilise their hardware and software services, ingesting their curated informational content.
US-based Microsoft Windows and Apple's macOS make up over 90% of desktop operating systems installed. It has given the U.S. and its allies overwhelming control over the internet's core infrastructure and the devices, operating systems, services and most importantly, the people.
This diffuse of new hegemony ingrains Western content consumption and cultural influence at an unprecedented scale. In this age of digital penetration where even the most deserted of places have internet connections, this unimaginable control over technology gives the West the power to set narratives and exert massive influence to their benefit. In other words, this is a new form of potent cultural and psychological influence projection. Not to forget, the piles of dollars that it adds to the US’s economy.
Tech companies also hold a great amount of classified user data which can enormously affect a common man and even countries if misused. Data has the power to befall nations impacting their political, economic and security environment alike. In a world where information is key to supremacy, the United States and its allies have been way ahead.
FALL OF EMPIRES - WILL THE WEST FALL?
From the Roman Empire to the British Empire, from the Soviet Union to the United States at present, the rise and fall of great nations is primarily driven by their economic strength.
British Historian Paul Kennedy aptly describes in his book The Rise and Fall of Great Powers - “The more international commitments a state has, the more its power matters and hence the more economic strength it needs.”
In international relations/politics, power doesn’t ensure ultimate success but having power definitely helps. Here in the case of America, the power it holds currently is a result of its economic strength and the quality of its military forces. The United States has involved itself in many overseas commitments since the beginning of the Cold War, having an aim of ensuring peace and stability not only limited to its neighbours but also in various parts of Europe and Asia along with the oil rich middle-east countries. Maintaining such an array of commitments overseas requires a humongous amount of resources.
The war in Ukraine, West Asia turmoil including the Israel-Palestinian Cause, which has a subcategory of Israel-Hamas conflict, tensions near Taiwan and the overall geopolitical volatility in the Indo-Pacific have all been added to the list of overseas commitments of the United States.
The increasing threat of the Chinese invasion of Taiwan raises the question of whether the US would significantly move air and naval power away from its ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine to live up to its international commitments.
Conflict routinely ensues major changes in the balance of power. Major relative declines in the past have been often accompanied by highly dangerous international conditions. Instability in the international system points towards the declining influence and acceptance of the West. Waging wars in foreign lands just to keep another state down has been one of the major losing strategies in history. The US is not the first great power to suffer from long-term decline. Tsarist Russia has also gone through the same fate.
The idea that the United States is the most powerful country which has the power to re-shape the international order according to American interests is no longer a reality, reason being the US economy which has been on decline.
It is the economy on the whole which most suitably determines the limits of power in international politics. Although the United States has not lost its position as the most innovative country, it surely is slowly losing its technological dominance with countries constantly challenging the status quo. The United States has already fallen far from being a global hegemon.
The concept of unipolarity is waning and the idea of a multi polar world is quickly picking up pace. With an increase in the rise of other states to counter American power, The United States is losing much of its strategic freedom. Adopting more realistic foreign commitments will surely benefit Washington in the long run.
Even though the United States remains stronger than any other country individually, it is slowly losing the power to stand up against collective opposition of major powers. America will have to garner much international support among regional powers like Russia and China for its important national security objectives. America is not just declining but the concept of unipolarity is quickly becoming obsolete.
BY AANYA AND VAYSHNAVI DESAI
TEAM GEOSTRATA
very well written
Interesting!
Informative
well written
Insightful