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 while international cooperation is most effective when there is a single nation whose overwhelming power and influence forces other nations to cooperate, cooperation is also possible when there is no hegemonic power. Keohane argues that international "regimes" can work to encourage cooperation between nations, even though there is no "power" to enforce any agreements. In the second section, Keohane presents an abbreviated political and economic history of the western world after World ...