Unipolarity and Its Consequences - Liberal Leviathan: The Origins, Crisis, and Transformation of the American World Order - page 92

Unipolarity and Liberal International Order
The polarity of a system is determined by the distribution of power. But what precisely a
pole is remains somewhat ambiguous. Waltz's definition is essentially a depiction of mater-
ial capabilities, yet it also includes political-institutional features such as competence, which
presumably entails the ability of a major state to translate its material assets into influence.
The original usage of the term by realists also includes the idea that poles are analogies to
magnetism, where each pole is a center of attraction and repulsion. 23 This imagery suggests
that poles are not just materially capable states but also organizational forces that shape and
bend movements and connections between states. The society-of-states literature also talks
about poles as more than aggregations of power but as great powers that have roles and func-
tions within the wider international society. Poles are great powers—and great powers play a
role in organizing and managing the system. 24 It is a small step from these ideas to talk about
poles as organizational hubs within the global system. That is, a pole can be defined in terms
of material capabilities. It can be defined as a hub in reference to its institutional capacity to
organize relations among states. A state is a hub to the extent that it provides the organizing
infrastructure of international relations within a geographical region, a functional sphere, or,
more generally, within the wider global system. 25
A pole can take on characteristics as an organizing hub in several ways. It can provide
goods and services for other states that affiliate with it. The most basic service is security
protection. A state is a hub when it builds alliance partnerships and organizes regional and
global cooperative security relations. Other states come to rely on the hub for security and
stability. A state can take on the characteristics of a hub when it provides rules and institu-
tional arrangements within which other states operate. The hub facilitates cooperation among
states that are arrayed around it. More generally, the state can provide a political-institutional
venue for commerce, diplomacy, and other forms of international exchange. This is the hub
as a geopolitical crossroads location, providing institutional connections and services for re-
gional or global governance. 26
A hub is not just a reflection of power capabilities. It is also determined by its wider or-
ganizational characteristics and roles. Hubs can be more or less comprehensive as centers of
power and power. The most fully developed hub would be a powerful state that organized
the full range of functional areas: security, economics, politics, and so forth. A hub can differ
in terms of its regional or global scale. Japan and China have variously played such a role in
East Asia over the centuries. France and Britain have played such a role in Western Europe.
Other hubs operate at a global level, drawing in states from across geographical areas. Britain
in the nineteenth century was perhaps the first global hub. The United States and the Soviet
Union during the Cold War were even more globally far-flung in their organizational reach.
In these ways, hubs can have more or less expansive and integrative political-institutional