" Thus far, however, no one seems to be able to project with any degree of accuracy just what the character of this "new world order" will be over the long-term. Among the new scenarios offered are (1) a multipolar character, in which either (a) the United States will be but one of several major players, (b) the United States, Japan, and the reunited Germany will be the major players, with a considerably less significant role for Russia, or (c) the United States, a unified European Community, China, and Russia will be the major players, and (2) a unipolar character in which the United States is the dominant world power. The latter scenario certainly describes the contemporary situation (3:5).
There is little doubt that the international political order is changing, and that in the late-summer of 1999 it is significantly different from what it was in the fall of 1989. It remains difficult, however, to predict with any degree of accuracy who the major players in the developing multipolar or unipolar environment will and will not be, and which, if any, of these players will be first among equals, although as the only current superpower, the United States frequently behaves as if it is the first among equals. In spite of the difficulties being experienced by the national government in Russia, a great leap of faith is required to assume that a major international political role will be denied to a country with an armed force as formidable as is that of Russia. While morale is low within the Russian military establishment and funding is short, it remains a force that cannot be ignored (3:7).
Until the recent past, the MOOTW concept, regardless of what name may have been applied to the concept, most generally referred to the use of armed forces in situations that were considered to be a departure from traditional warfare, which tended to be viewed as a well-structured conflict between traditionally organized and deployed military f...