The Last of the Hegemons: British Impasse, American Impasse, World Impasse

Treating the last two centuries as two hegemonic cycles centered on Britain and the USA, this paper considers the similarities and differences between these hegemonic experiences in terms of military, diplomatic, economic and cultural leadership. But hegemony implies more than the sum of these activities, the hegemon defines the future for most of the rest of the world. In the case of Britain an industrial world was ushered in; in the case of the USA mass consumption was added to increased production as Americanization of the world. But American dream as world dream promises consumption levels that the Earth cannot sustain. Hence Americanization is a promise of an affluent society for all that cannot be kept. The resulting world impasse generates quite unpalatable future global political geographies.