American Hegemony and the Trilateral Commission

Dr Stephen Gill examines the extent and nature of Americas as a hegemonic state.

American Hegemony and the Trilateral Commission, first published in 1991, makes an original contribution to a subject of great interest to specialists and students of international relations and international political economy - the extent and nature of America as an international power and a hegemonic state up until the end of the 1980s. In examining the role of the USA in the post-war world order, Stephen Gill challenges arguments concerning the relative decline of American hegemony. He maintains that instead of equating hegemony with the dominance of one state over other states, one should redefine the question of hegemony in terms of the relationship between economic, military, cultural and political forces. Gill also develops a concept of transnational hegemony - the rise in the power of internationally mobile capital.

List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Realist and liberal perspectives; 3. Marxist perspectives: the question of hegemony redefined; 4. The decline of American hegemony: myth and reality; 5. Towards an American-centred transnational hegemony?; 6. Private international relations councils; 7. Aims, activities, organisation and membership of the trilateral commission; 8. Theoretical and practical aspects of the trilateral commission; 9. Hegemony, knowledge and the limit of internationalism; Appendices; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.

Dr Stephen Gill makes an original contribution to the extent and nature of America as a hegemonic state. He challenges arguments concerning the relative decline of American hegemony and develops a novel concept of transnational capital - the rise in the power of internationally mobile capital.