Abstract

Now that the United States are experiencing a severe financial crisis and strong indebtedness, other powers are emerging. The author wonders about the consequences of power shifts on the world's politics and economy. There is obviously no certainty that power shifts will actually occur. In the past similar prophecies have proved wrong, but it is not improbable that the international power hierarchy will change. The topic of international supremacy arouses great theoretical interest, and it is fraught with practical consequences. In order to evaluate the impact of this change and to imagine the possible future, the author analyses past events to identify similarities and differences. He defines his thesis "cautiously optimistic".