Part I: The End of U.S. Unchallenged Dominance
- Sol and Rod Morgan
- Sep 9
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 15
For decades, the global order has felt familiar: the United States at the center, its dollar the default currency, its alliances framing the rules of the game. But the ground is shifting... Slowly, unevenly, and chaotically, yet unmistakably.
We are not yet at the end of U.S. dominance. But we are clearly witnessing the end of U.S. unchallenged dominance.
A Multipolar World Emerging
The recent summit in Beijing where Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong-un was more than diplomatic theater. It was a symbol of an alternative bloc positioning itself against the United States-led order. Add to this India’s balancing act with Moscow, and the growing voice of BRICS+ nations trading in local currencies, hoarding gold, openly designing shared financial systems, and advancing independent AI innovation.
"Over the next two decades, international politics will be shaped by whether the international system remains unipolar or is transformed into a multipolar system. Can the United States sustain its primacy?"
Dollar Under Pressure
The U.S. dollar remains dominant, but its “exorbitant privilege” is eroding. Oil contracts in yuan, cross-border payments outside SWIFT, and central banks buying gold instead of Treasurys are signals of change.
For the first time since World War II, leaders of major economies are not just opposing U.S. policies... they are imagining alternatives to the system itself.
Democracy and Capitalism at a Crossroads
Democracy and capitalism have long been intertwined in Western thinking. Yet China and its partners showcase another model: authoritarian capitalism. Economic growth, technological expansion, and global projects like the Belt and Road — all without liberal democracy as the foundation. It raises uncomfortable questions:
Can capitalism thrive without democracy?
Can democracy survive widening inequality under capitalism?
And if authoritarian efficiency outpaces democratic debate, which model attracts more followers?
Chaos in the System
Chaos theory teaches that small shocks can reshape entire systems. That, we posit, is the world we are in now. A U.S. election, Taiwan tensions, an energy crisis, or a cyberattack could accelerate shifts already in motion. No single player fully controls the trajectory.
“Policymakers and business leaders must respond to heightened uncertainty and trade tensions with greater coordination, strategic agility and investment in the growth potential of transformative technologies like artificial intelligence. These steps are essential for navigating today’s economic headwinds and securing long-term resilience and growth.”
The Road Ahead
No, the U.S. is not collapsing... Its economy, military, and innovation remain immense strengths. But the unchallenged era is gone. What lies ahead is a multipolar, fragmented world where influence must be negotiated, not assumed.
"On the one hand, 'multipolarization' describes an ongoing power shift toward a world where a greater number of actors are vying for influence. On the other hand, it also captures the international and domestic polarization that comes with increasingly incompatible visions for the international order, making it ever more difficult for actors to agree on common solutions to shared global problems."
The real question is not whether U.S. dominance ends, but whether democracy and capitalism can adapt or fracture in the turbulence where the age of unchallenged dominance is replaced by a multipolar, fragmented, and uncertain world?
Read Part II in this series: Convergence — The Undiscovered Country.
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