The United States and the unipolar moment:

The role played by the united states during the cold war was often subject to attack by
critics who berated the greatest power on earth for being too interventionist, too
insensitive, too little interested in the deeper needs of the underdeveloped countries and
for upholding right-wing dictators when they should have been promoting freedom.

US played in negotiating the end of the cold war by reassuring several very nervous
European states the even if Germany was about to be united and NATO refined.
The United States in these transitional years’ points to at least one major feature of the
post-cold war world is that with or without a soviet union, the US would remain fully
engaged in international affairs. There would be no retreat into isolation. As it opened the
door, US were presented to massive opportunity to reshape the world in the United States’
own image. Yet, in spite of this John Mearsheimer predicted that US would soon miss the
cold war.

Various questions were raised whether this position of primacy would last long or not. Some
says that other great power would emerge to balance the USA whereas others less sure.
With the USSR having finally collapsed in 1991, Chine only barely recovering from years of
economic isolation, Europe still very firmly in the America camp, and the balance of military
power tilting increasingly towards the US, many concluded that the unipolarity would last
well into the 21st century.

It led to the 2nd debate concerning the exercise of this great power. Most Americans thought
it crucial to embed US power into pre-existing international institutions, sending out the
very clear message that America was not just powerful but could be trusted to exercise its
power wisely and well. Others adopted a more unilateral outlook.
This particular debate was not settled on pages of foreign policy journal due to election of
President Clinton in 1992. Sensing that the America people were seeking a new foreign
policy approach, he concentrated mainly on economic issues, linking prosperity at home
with America’s ability to compete abroad. This did not prelude the US having to address
other more traditional threats, such as the proliferation of nuclear weapons and terrorism.

Having won the cold war, there seemed to be no pressing reason for the USA to get sucked
into conflicts abroad either. Clinton conceded, the US could neither escape from the world
nor retreat from it. Under Clinton there was a great focus on economic issues and using
America’s economic power to reinforce its position in the international system. There may
have been little appetite for military intervention, especially following the 1993 debacle in
Somalia. The USA may have failed to intervene in Rwanda, but it continued to play an active
role in international affairs during the 1990s.