Power in the 21st Century - Determinants and Contours

This book results from a symposium organized by Genesys Network, which took place on April 29th, 2015, in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. The organizers invited contributors to think about the concept of power in the context of the evolving international system, and what it implied for the study of the concept in IR academic field. Indeed, if the end of the Cold War was characterized by a “unipolar moment” as defined by Krauthammer in 1991, this period is starting to come to an end. While the United States remains arguably a global superpower, its position is more and more disputed by other actors. Likewise, new centers of power have emerged. Today’s world is complex and transitional, characterized by both short- and long-term challenges; interactions among these powers remain to be apprehended and understood. In the last decade, we have also observed an economic and partially political shift or redistribution of power from the “West to the Rest” on the classical state power chessboard. The beginning of the 21st century thus constitutes an important challenge for the super- and emerging or resurgent powers. The new global state of affairs is characterized by conditions that are more complex than in the past. In these circumstances and in the face of these worldwide trends, the concept of power has evolved and the need to redefine or think the concept has become a necessity. The present book thus aims at presenting the diversity of views on the concept of power but also, perhaps more importantly, their complementarity