Whatever the outcome of the 3rd November election, the US hegemony has ended and a new era in international relations begun, writes Chris Ogden.

Much appears to be at stake in the upcoming US Presidential Election.  For liberals, a second Trump term would represent an ever-growing threat to American democracy, to objectivity in the country’s justice system and to equality for its citizens.  For Republicans, a Biden victory would usher in a radical left that would reduce economic growth, inspire mass protest and stop the white racial dominance of American institutions and daily life.  As a result, both Biden and Trump claim that they are fighting “a battle for America’s soul”.

Beyond the domestic consequences of the November 3^rd vote, the US election has serious ramifications which will impact upon the US’s place on the global stage.  In international relations, great powers – the world’s most influential and powerful countries – owe their status not only to considerable economic and military strength but also the recognition of their peers.  In this way, international politics is as much about perceptions as it is about material factors, with the confluence of these elements conferring global dominance.  If such positive perceptions sour, so too then can a country’s effective status in the world.

Combined with a less than stellar and somewhat dismissive response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and despite continued economic and military capabilities, the US - in terms of how it is broadly perceived in global affairs– is in decline.  This decline marks the definitive end point of US hegemony in world affairs, and the true heralding of a multipolar international system where US leadership will need to openly compete with China, Russia, India and the European Union for legitimacy.  The death throes of the American Century, and of its western-centric world order, will also enable the emergence of an Asian Century and of a new eastern-centric world order.