Balance of world power is changing rapidly

The following is the concluding part of a series on the complexities and trends in international relations over the past year.

Many wished and believed a decade after the Cold War ended that the future world would be a multipolar one. But at the same time, they also believed that as the overwhelming superpower, United States hegemony would persist for at least another 50 years or even longer.

But recent years have shown that this is not the case.