The relevance of Paul Kennedy in the historic relation among the great world powers and the case of the current rivalry between the United States and China

Abstract

The present essay intends to shed light on the importance of the arguments developed by the historian and professor at Yale University, Paul Kennedy, still felt in our present times. In his work, entitled The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, published in 1987, Kennedy attests that the longevity of the great powers that emerged within the capitalist world-economy, depended on how these powers behaved in the military-strategic sphere and on how they preserved their economic and technological bases, especially in the face of competition and the transformations inherent to the European system of states, which has been expanding since the 16th century. To this end, the author’s ideas about “rise and fall” that stems from the Habsburg Empire, France, England, was mapped and updated to our contemporary reality, expressing some of its nuances in the current dispute between the United States and China for a particular hegemony over the international system. That discussion stands based on the publication Kennedy made in The Economist, in September 2021, addressing the relationship of the two giants mentioned above. By reflecting on the challenges faced by the western power in contemporary times, Kennedy contributed to the debate and demonstrated the vitality of his theses. And the proof that his reflections remain still relevant can be verified by the new edition of his classical, a project on which Kennedy is working at this very present moment.