The new military order

Abstract

The political, economic, military, and other professional literature very often deals with and discusses the political, economic, legal and other world orders, but rarely, or not at all, addresses the global military order. This paper deals exactly with the global military order established by the most powerful military powers together with (or without) their allies. The military order, as any other order shaped by the human reality, is changeable, both in duration, and in structure. It is usually created in a great world war, when some military powers disappear, and others emerge. During the industrial revolution, and with turning into the technological age, especially during the twentieth century, there were several such events. The global military order may be represented by only one nation with its allies, and it is the unipolar global military order. In that case the nation dominates the global military/politico-military stage and shapes it in a certain way. When the politico-military stage is dominated by two military powers, it is the bipolar global military order, and when it is dominated by three or more military powers, it is the multipolar global military order. These orders, as a rule, do not represent a peaceful harmonized system. Its main subjects are usually involved in periodical or continuous confrontations, which in the past often resulted in armed conflicts. The most recent global bipolar order was an exception in that it did also result in a war, but a 'cold' one. The recent bipolar order has been replaced by unipolar global military order. Namely, since 1991, the global politico-military stage has been dominated by a single nation, the United States of America, and the only remaining military alliance (NATO), in which the USA plays a leading role. No other nation or group of nations has been able to match its part in the decision-making on key international issues, nor to challenge it as a matching opponent. Lately, however, great changes have been caused very quickly, often unexpectedly, in various fields of human activity, even in the constellation of global powers. Recently, the economic and, along with it, political and military supremacy, is being transferred from West to East. Over the past ten years or more, defense spending of a group of Euro-Asian countries has been drastically increased, resulting in strengthening of their military posture. This trend continues, indicating the multipolarization of the global military order. There are enough clear signs and convincing evidence that the unipolar global military order is being superseded by the new multipolar global military order and the new balance of powers in the world.