International Security at the Dawn of the 21st Century

Abstract

The international scene changed dramatically with the end of the Cold War and the definitive takeoff of economic globalization. The bipolar system was based on the “balance of terror” of mutually exclusive systems from economic, political and social point of view. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the demise of the Warsaw Pact, this order was closed. But this does not mean the disappearance of international conflicts. Otherwise, we are attending a complex global landscape, with the emergence of a set of “new threats” that were translated into concrete facts with the terrorist attacks of 9-11. The tension between unipolarity and multilateralism, and the role of the United States as an “exceptional” actor are characteristics of the new “map” of international security.