Understanding the Hobbesian Post-American World

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The post- American world coming in to view is not a Wilsonian world; a world where there is democracy, peace, and free market (Mandelbaum, 2002), but rather a Hobbesian world. A world based on anarchy, in which there is a struggle for big power; Thucydides wrote that “the strong do what they can and the weak put up with what they must (Seau, 2013).” What has unfolded in this post- American world is not a Wilsonian platform, with views of democracy and freedom, but rather what is presently unfolding is pure chaos and a power tug of war. This paper sets out to explore why the post- American world that is shaping up, and why it is not a Wilsonian world, but rather a Hobbesian world- using examples from several scholars, who explored the loss of culture, fear baiting, and economic and military holdings. …show more content…

In Zakaria’s article the Rise of the Rest, Zakaria highlights that Americans believe that they are on the wrong side of history, and that the American government is creating futile policies that only benefit the government; this upended feeling is moving is rooted and based in a deeper place, a place that senses large and disruptive forces (Zakaria, 2008). Zakaria goes on to note that “in almost every industry, in every aspect of life, it feels like the patterns of the past are being scrambled….And for the first time in living memory the United States does not seem to be leading the charge. Americans see that a new world is coming into being, but fear it is one being shaped in distant lands and by foreign people (Zakaria, 2008).” Zakaria’s prose on the subject matter highlights that America is a downspin, and the downspin has in part been created by fear, and that fear creates a response creates a reaction that is not based in collective action but rather bridge burning- a Hobbesian

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