Book Review of After Hegemony

The subject of this review is Robert Keohane's book, After Hegemony. The review will discuss some of the points made by Keohane in his book and the strengths and weaknesses of the book. It will also take into account some of the criticisms of the book by other reviewers and place the ideas proposed in the book in the context of events which have occurred since its publication.

Published in 1984, After Hegemony attempts to explain the influence of the United States in world affairs after 1945, particularly focusing upon the reasons for the decline in American influence since the 1970s and the state of international cooperation in the post-hegemonic era. In doing so, Robert Keohane connects international political influence with economic performance, evaluating some of the theories which have been used to interpret international politics. Keohane uses these theories to establish a framework for the evaluation of cooperation between countries with common interests and to explain why cooperation can either fail or continue in the absence of the hegemony of a single nation. Thus, the purpose of the book, according to Keohane, is to "diagnose the reasons for such failure" in order to develop "remedies" for the future (1984, p. 6).

Keohane organizes the book into two basic sections. The first section sets up the theoretical basis for his theory concerning post-hegemony cooperation. In this section he develops a theoretical basis for his idea that w

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or establishing liability (the factory owner is induced to settle and install the controls by the threat of legal action on the part of the business owner), perfect information on the parts of both parties, and zero transaction costs. None of these conditions is present in international politics (p. 85-87) . Keohane argues that international regimes have been established in order to deal with these problems. He says that regimes, such as international agreements and the bodies set up to administer these agreements, are used by states to pursue their goals in international politics. Regimes reduce uncertainty and force behavior into predictable patterns. Although compliance with these regimes is not universal or constant, governments comply with them more often than would normally be thought. Keohane asserts that governments often look past their immediate self-interest in a particular situation and act with regards to their total interest. In addition, compliance is based upon damage to a country's reputation which may occur in the event of noncompliance. In fact, preservation of reputation is a rational interest; non-compliance with a regime will cause other countries to regard the miscreant with suspicion in the future (p

Category: Government - B