BIPOLARITY was the state of the world from 1945 to 1991 there were two large blocs of power during the Cold War. (1). The free world led by the United States, Western Europe and their allies. (2). The communist world, led by the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China and their allies. The so-called “Third World” or the emerging nations of the Global South were thought to be excluded from bipolarity or were aligned with either “West” or “East.”
UNIPOLARITY was the system that emerged at the end of the Cold War in 1991. The United States was the unchallenged hyperpower and was enjoying a unipolar moment at the “End of History”19 when Liberal democracy emerged as triumphant. There would be no more wars among the great powers. The role of the United States was “to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival … to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power.”[20 It took a series of wars led by the US and NATO and millions of dead until Western neoliberal globalism committed suicide by overextending itself. The United States’ had its brief “unipolar moment” as Charles Krauthammer stated in 1990.21 Since that time, the world has been shifting away from modern nation-states toward a multipolar order of civilization states.
MULTIPOLARITY was the state of the world in all of history until the 17th century. There were no “countries” as we think of them today. The political order of civilizations was organized into tribal peoples, kingdoms, and empires. The cultural order was aligned along the boundaries of civilizations. The boundaries of these great civilizations seldom touched. For most of history, one civilization did not even know others existed (e.g., Europeans, Chinese, Aztecs). When civilizations clashed, it was usually with great violence (Rome/Carthage, Greece/Persia, Spain/Inca). After the 14th century, which began after the Age of Exploration, the nations of Europe struggled against each other to dominate the sea trade and thus control the reserve currency and the seat of the European empire. Regardless of the fact that the power of Europe was unipolar, centering around one nation at a time, the entire world order remained multipolar as it was from the beginning.
MULTILATERALISM is another word for multipolarism when used outside of the West. However, among neoliberals and post-political ideologues, such as George Soros and Klaus Schwab, the term simply means a coalition of Western nations, including Japan, Australia and New Zealand, which seek to draw emerging nations into a union. These nations’ leaders assume that the Liberal model of politics, economics and social values are the highest point of human development. Political bodies, international groups and multinational corporations would then become part of the many “stakeholders” in a post-political world order without trade barriers or travel restrictions.
THE FOURTH POLITICAL THEORY (4PT) is the idea that after the three failed modernist political theories that dominated the 20th century – (1). Liberalism, (2). communism, (3.) fascism – a Fourth Political Theory will emerge that reemphasizes “being there” (Dasein) in the culture of one’s own civilization’s Great Space – and each individual exists in “a state of being thrown” (Geworfenheit) into the world in the context of their culture’s faith, family values, and traditions. According to 4PT, the political systems of the future will be diverse, but will shift away from the idea of the artificial Westphalian nation-state, toward a multipolar world of civilization states that emphasize government based on the organic civilization state. These states already are emerging as major powers and are based on the ancient structures of religion, shared history, common values, and the cooperative sharing of resources and efforts between individuals, ethnic groups, and whole civilizations. The Fourth Political Theory is a phrase coined in the subtitle of a book, a collection of essays by the French political philosopher Alain de Benoist, Against Liberalism: Towards the Fourth Political Theory. Aleksandr Dugin translated and published this work in Russian and later wrote his own book, The Fourth Political Theory. Dugin’s theory is misunderstood by both liberals and conservatives for a variety of reasons, most often because his post-2009 philosophy took a decided shift totally away from all Modernist models. Most Western political experts are not able to see that there can be any political theory that is different from one of the three prevalent Modernist systems or a combination thereof.
19 Francis Fukuyama. The End of History and the Last Man. United Kingdom: Penguin Adult, 1992.
20 This was part of what was known as the “Wolfowitz Doctrine” as stated in the Pentagon’s February 18, 1992 draft of the “Defense Planning Guidance for Fiscal Years 1994-1999.” https://www.gao.gov/assets/nsiad-94-43.pdf.
21 Charles Krauthammer, “The Unipolar Moment,” The Washington Post, July 20, 1990. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1990/07/20/the-unipolar-moment/62867add-2fe9-493f-a0c9-4bfba1ec23bd/.
Glossary Headings
Political Theories
Modern Political Movements
Forms of Government
Modern Political Counterfeits
Political World Orders
Culture and Society
Epistemology
Globalism
Regional and Global Organizations
World Reserve Currency
World Financial Organizations
Globalist Think Tanks, Theories, and Doctrines
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