Democracy and like-minded nations

Robert Walker

Chapter 3 in Is China Right?, 2026, pp 25-40 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: With the Cold War over, US goals shifted to preventing the emergence of competitors and ensuring the advancement of US values, interests and security. Absent a Soviet threat, the hegemonic system has been bound by commitments to liberal ideology and democracy, the membership initially growing quickly as exemplified by the expansion of NATO and the EU. Long-established global institutions have been co-opted to help perpetuate the concentration of economic power enjoyed by nations and businesses within the hegemonic tent. With the limited spread of liberal values and the prospect of competitors, notably China, the memes of ‘like-mindedness’, ‘democracy’ and ‘a rules-based world order’ have become neorealist geopolitical tools used to exclude and demonise. The US-led hegemony has enabled member states to continue to collectively enjoy a plurality of the world's income and increasing living standards while others have seen incomes fall in relative terms. However, China's economic rise presents a contested alternative.

Keywords: Competition; Democracy; Realism; Neorealism; Rules-Based World Order; GDP Per Capita (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035329229
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