The World Order Life-Cycle and the Emerging World Power Competition

The low success of the world policies especially in the economy and security sector, the high number of unresolved conflicts, the persistence of unmanaged global problems, and the agitated confrontation of the major world powers are good reasons for analysing the present stage of world order and for theorizing on the next world power competition. The present paper takes up the hegemonic order theory to analyse the chance of clash for leadership in the world political system. The key concepts of the analysis are the ‘world order life-cycle’, the ‘revisionist/status quo world power’, and the ‘coalition power’ concept. The world powers under study are the United States, China, and Russia. The paper highlights the revisionist vs. status quo strategy and the potentials of the coalition power of each aspirant to the world hegemony. It examines also the chance of peaceful vs. violent competition among the aspirants to the next world hegemony.