Hegemony Exceptionalism And Its Critics

If there is a special theory about international politics, it's definitely balance of power theory. Since international system was created, balance of power which is spoiled all reemerge. But from post cold war era, American hegemony is solidified. Some theorists' prediction that some powers will emerge to balance American hegemony isn't testified. Some primacists interpreted this anomaly from the perspectives of new Realism, new Liberalism and Constructism. They presented some new theories such as unipolar stability thesis, balance of threat thesis and benevolent hegemony thesis. Christopher Layne named them hegemony exceptionalism. The attributes of American hegemony is different from former hegemony-American hegemony is liberal, which can escape the fate of being defeated by other powers from then on .The perspectives of these theories are innovative and some new materials are cited. But after carefully analysis we find these theories all have many defects. After analyzing the defects of hegemony exceptionalism, I come to the conclusion that hegemony will be balanced by other big powers in the near future.