Rising Powers and International Politics: A Liberal Systemic Perspective

Abstract

Abstract: The future of international politics hinges on the behavior of the rising powers. Today, all eyes are on non-Western rising powers, most notably China and India. When the rising powers are examined as a class of states, two empirical trends emerge. First, these states are not pursuing a balancing strategy; second, they are pursuing a strategy of integration into the Western liberal order. Realist unipolar theory explains the ‘missing balance.’ But unipolar theory is not helpful in explaining why rising powers have pursued a bonding strategy, or institutional and economic integration. This article seeks to explain the bonding behavior of rising powers by developing a liberal systemic theory.

Keywords: Systemic Theory, Liberal International Theory, Rising Powers