11 attacks, however, US foreign policy tookan imperial turn and many began to question the form, style andsubstance of US leadership at the start of the 21st Century. But why is the US behaving as if it lived in a world of enemies?What can other great powers do to change the behaviour of the US,and what will be the consequences if they fail? Could the EU andChina become superpowers alongside the US? And what would happen ifthe US stepped down from its superpowers role creating a world withonly great powers and no superpowers? In this important new book, Barry Buzan seeks to provide answersto these pressing questions. He begins by introducing the coreconcepts of polarity and identity in world politics, which he usesto develop three possible scenarios for the future development ofthe international political system. Buzan contends that we are notliving in a strictly unipolar world, where the great powers arehelpless in the face of the US. Instead he argues that theexistence of great powers alongside an American superpower plays acrucial role in creating both opportunities and responsibilitieswhich will shape the way in which world politics unfolds in thecoming decades. What the great powers do or don't do will becrucial to how long US dominance lasts. It will also help determinewhether the period of American hegemony will develop or destroy theunique multilateral international society built up by US foreignpolicy over the last half century.

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