Bipolarity and Multipolarity

Polarity: Theoretical Approaches

The significance of the distribution of relative power capabilities in the international system is widely contested. For realists, it is the single most important determinant of international politics. Liberals also accept that the distribution of power is an important factor shaping international politics, although they attach greater significance to domestic-level factors (such as regime type) or the existence of international regimes and institutions as determinants of international outcomes. Similarly, the English School has traditionally recognized the importance of the balance of power and the management role of great powers, even though this approach stresses the importance of “international society” as a factor that ameliorates the operation of power politics.

Critical theorists and postpositivists, on the other hand, question the significance of polarity as a theoretical tool for understanding international politics. These, more radical approaches challenge the very concept of “power” as used by realists and other rationalist theories; power, they argue, cannot be reduced to resources, geography, and other material factors. Like constructivists, they tend to emphasize the significance of normative and ideational factors and stress the role of nonstate actors. Consequently, they argue that concepts of bipolarity and multipolarity are irredeemably freighted with realist assumptions and that focusing on polarity obscures the “real” operation of power in the international system that serves the interests of privileged elites.

For realists, however, the distribution of power in the international system is the key factor shaping any regional or global conjuncture. International political systems are inherently unequal, diverse, and pluralistic: They consist of a variety of different actors with wildly differing power capabilities, with a relatively small number of more powerful states. Realists argue that this handful of powerful states—generally known as great powers—exert a disproportionate influence on international affairs and that relations between them provide the key determinants of the structure and dynamics of the international system.