Page 16 - INSS | 2019-2020

1 The International System:
Superpower Competition and Functional Difficulties

Assaf Orion, Eldad Shavit, Shahar Eilam, and Rotem Oreg

Andy Rain

Snapshot Recommendations

Strategic competition among world powers, Improved coordination with the US, while
as they face growing internal challenges striving toward bipartisan support • Vis-à-vis
• US focus on Asia with an accelerated process Russia: ongoing dialogue • Vis-à-vis China:
of turning inward, at the outset of a polarizing careful progress • Vis-à-vis Europe: revival of
election year a strategic dialogue with the EU

The Strategic Competition in the International Arena

After three decades of United States dominance as the only global superpower, the third decade of the 21st century
begins amidst strategic competition in the international arena on multiple levels. Countries, organizations, and
international corporations are part of this competition, which is led by the world powers: the United States, which
is still the strongest in the world in terms of resources and capabilities; China, which uses its economic power as
leverage for political influence and increased military power, even though its growth rate has slowed; Russia, whose
veteran president, Putin, is coping with complex internal challenges; and the European Union, which is struggling
with migration issues and Brexit, and the various challenges from Russia.

While the core of the competition deals with ensuring basic human needs (water, food, energy, and sustainable
climate conditions), unlike efforts in previous decades to strengthen cooperation, in the current era it is evident
that the actors in the international system strive to advance narrower interests and achieve dominance mainly
through four complementary dimensions of competition: ideology and politics (norms, values, rights, institutions);

14 STRATEGIC SURVEY FOR ISRAEL