What do you mean by Hegemony? Explain different types of hegemony by citing examples. Plzz explain in detail as I am having a lot of confusion in this chapter.

Asked by abhishek240624 30th May 2018, 11:42 AM

Answered by Expert

Answer:

Generally speaking, leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group, over the others is known as hegemony. Power, dominance and leadership are three main features of hegemony. For example, USA is a powerful country at present which tries to dominate other Asian and African nations.

In case of the US, hegemony takes three main forms: Hegemony as Hard Power,

Hegemony as Structural Power and

Hegemony as Soft Power.

Hegemony as Hard Power
It reflects the military strength of a powerful country. The US is powerful mainly because of its superior military dominance. Some features of US hegemony as a hard power are

Weapons of USA can reach any part of the world accurately and lethally. It can cause maximum damage to its enemies, while its own forces are sheltered to the maximum from enemy’s attacks.
No country in the world can even think of matching the military might of the US.
It not only has superior military weapons but also spends substantially on military research and development.

Hegemony as Structural Power

A hegemon has structural power if it supports the creation and existence of a world economy. The US is a hegemonic structural power because

The US has played a great role in providing global public goods. Public goods are goods which are used by one person without reducing the amount of goods available for someone else.
Fresh air and roads are some examples of public goods. In the world economy, sea lanes of communication (SLOCs) are used by merchant ships. Free trade in an open world economy would not be possible without open SLOCs.

Hegemony as Soft Power

When a country establishes its cultural supremacy in the world in various defined forms, it becomes a soft power.

The US has emerged as a hegemonic soft power with the following dimensions:

The US is not only militarily and economically but also culturally dominant today.
Dreams of people and societies are influenced by practices of 20^th century America.
America is the most powerful culture on the Earth and thus is called ‘soft power’ as it can persuade rather than coerce.

For more details, request you to kindly refer to our Revision Notes.

Answered by Expert 31st May 2018, 9:24 AM

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