Power in the 21st Century

This book results from a symposium organized by Genesys Network, which took
place on April 29th, 2015, in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. The organizers
invited contributors to think about the concept of power in the context of the
evolving international system, and what it implied for the study of the
concept in IR academic field.
Indeed, if the end of the Cold War was characterized by a "unipolar moment" as
defined by Krauthammer in 1991, this period is starting to come to an end.
While the United States remains arguably a global superpower, its position is
more and more disputed by other actors. Likewise, new centers of power have
emerged. Today's world is complex and transitional, characterized by both
short- and long-term challenges; interactions among these powers remain to be
apprehended and understood. In the last decade, we have also observed an
economic and partially political shift or redistribution of power from the
“West to the Rest” on the classical state power chessboard. The beginning of
the 21st century thus constitutes an important challenge for the super- and
emerging or resurgent powers. The new global state of affairs is characterized
by conditions that are more complex than in the past. In these circumstances
and in the face of these worldwide trends, the concept of power has evolved
and the need to redefine or think the concept has become a necessity.
The present book thus aims at presenting the diversity of views on the concept
of power but also, perhaps more importantly, their complementarity.