THE FADING a way of the bipolar world has sent many states into a sort of identity crisis. The travails of "transformation" have been obvious in former Soviet countries and in China, but are also present in the West. Some Americans believe the "new world order" confers upon them a protracted vocation for world hegemony. The American Century is to become the American Millennium. The public reacts with an unstable mixture of indifference, satisfaction, skepticism and resentment.
While America's political imagination is bemused by its unipolar scenario, many Europeans are attracted by plans for a more cohesive and independent Europe. Some Europeans are openly skeptical that American hegemony guarantees their interests now that the Cold War is over, and thus want to reform NATO and develop more autonomous military capabilities. How Europe itself evolves is widely recognized to be among the major determinants of the world order that does eventually emerge. A stronger and more self-reliant Europe, together with a rapidly growing China, possibly India, and perhaps even a re-invigorated Russia, also implies a more balanced or "plural" world order. An emerging pluralist paradigm thus challenges the dominant unipolar paradigm.
