One of the most persistent arguments put forward by politicians, diplomats, and observers of international politics is that the world is or soon will be multipolar.
The idea is also being popularized in the business world: Morgan Stanley, the investment bank, recently issued a strategy paper for “navigating a multipolar world,” while INSEAD, a respected European business school, is concerned about leadership skills in such a world.
But despite what politicians, pundits, and investment bankers tell us, it is simply a myth that today’s world is anywhere close to multipolar.
The mere fact that there are rising middle powers and nonaligned countries with large populations and growing economies does not make the world multipolar.
A multipolar system may be less overtly polarized than a world with two adversarial superpowers, but it would not necessarily lead to a better world.
Second, advocating a multipolar world when it is clearly bipolar could give the wrong signals to friends and foes alike. »
