How is the international system structured?
Generally, people speak of polarization,
polarization is now the key concept
for comparing international systems
and for considering its transformations,
but I’m not sure that it’s the good key concept,
for a very clear reason that is that world
has not been ever polarized.
Polarization in the history of the world
is covering a very short period,
from 1947 up to 1989,
and the evidence of that
is to be fund in the fact that now
we are speaking of a post bipolar system.
We are supposed to be in a post bipolar system,
but what does it mean?
What is a post bipolar system?
Through this concept we know that
we were in a bipolar system,
but in which kind of international system we are?
The problem of this difficulty
is related to the concept of polarity,
which is not really covering the diversity
of the international system.
What is a pole? First of all what is a pole?
A pole is an attractive power,
an attractive force which is able
to organize and structure a coalition,
it is not evident that in all the periods
we can find a real attractive power
in the international system.
If we go back to 1947, at this time,
we had several factors
which were pushing to this polarization.
First of all, nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons created a new order
in the international arena,
that’s to say if you are not protected
by a nuclear power,
you are really and strongly threatened
by the nuclear powers.
That’s to say, in a nuclear moment,
camps are organized under the umbrella,
under the protection of a super power,
nuclear power was the main active factor
for creating the conditions of the bipolarity.