Editing Hegemony (section)

=== 20th century ===
[[File:NATO vs. Warsaw Pact (1949-1990).svg|thumb|The Soviet Union and the United States dominated world affairs during the [[Cold War]].]]
The early 20th century, like the late 19th century, was characterized by multiple [[Great Powers]] but no global hegemon. World War I strengthened the United States and, to a lesser extent, Japan. Both of these states' governments pursued policies to expand their regional [[spheres of influence]], the U.S. in [[Banana Wars|Latin America]] and Japan in [[Empire of Japan|East Asia]]. France, the UK, Italy, the Soviet Union and later [[Nazi Germany]] (1933–1945) all either maintained imperialist policies based on spheres of influence or attempted to conquer territory but none achieved the status of a global hegemonic power.<ref>{{cite book |first=Christopher |last=Hitchens |title=Why Orwell Matters |year=2002 |location=New York |publisher=Basic Books |pages=[https://archive.org/details/whyorwellmatters00hitc/page/86 86–87] |isbn=0-465-03049-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/whyorwellmatters00hitc/page/86 }}</ref>

After the [[Second World War]], the United Nations was established and the five strongest [[global power]]s (China, France, the UK, the U.S., and the USSR) were given permanent seats on the [[UN Security Council]], the organization's most powerful decision-making body.

Following the war, the U.S. and the USSR were the two strongest global powers and this created a bi-polar power dynamic in international affairs, commonly referred to as the [[Cold War]]. American hegemony during this time has been described as [[US imperialism#1947–1952: Cold War in Western Europe|"Empire by invitation"]]. The hegemonic conflict was [[ideological]], between [[communism]] and [[capitalism]], as well as geopolitical, between the [[Warsaw Pact]] countries (1955–1991) and [[NATO]]/[[SEATO]]/[[CENTO]] countries (1949–present/1954–1977/1955–1979). During the Cold War both hegemons competed against each other directly (during the [[arms race]]) and indirectly (via [[proxy war]]s). The result was that many countries, no matter how remote, were drawn into the conflict when it was suspected that their government's policies might destabilize the [[balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]]. Reinhard Hildebrandt calls this a period of "dual-hegemony", where "two dominant states have been stabilizing their European spheres of influence ''against and alongside each other''."<ref>Hilderbrandt, R., [https://books.google.com/books?id=FavTTdW2YqEC&q=%22cold+war%22+hegemony ''US Hegemony: Global Ambitions and Decline : Emergence of the Interregional Asian Triangle and the Relegation of the US as a Hegemonic Power, the Reorientation of Europe''], Peter Lang, 2009, p. 14. (Author's italics).</ref>
Proxy wars became battle grounds between forces supported either directly or indirectly by the hegemonic powers and included the [[Korean War]], the [[Laotian Civil War]], the [[Arab–Israeli conflict]], the [[Vietnam War]], the [[War in Afghanistan (1978–present)|Afghan War]], the [[Angolan Civil War]], and the [[Central American crisis|Central American Civil Wars]].<ref>Mumford, A., [https://books.google.com/books?id=3UgSAAAAQBAJ&q=proxy+wars ''Proxy Warfare''], John Wiley & Sons, 2013, pp. 46–51.</ref>

Following the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, the United States was the world's sole hegemonic power.<ref>Hildebrandt, R., [https://books.google.com/books?id=FavTTdW2YqEC&q=hegemony+USA ''US Hegemony: Global Ambitions and Decline : Emergence of the Interregional Asian Triangle and the Relegation of the US as a Hegemonic Power, the Reorientation of Europe''], Peter Lang, 2009, pp. 9–11.</ref>