Shifting Power: US Hegemony and the Media

Abstract

US hegemony has been the most significant aspect of international relations since the fall of the Soviet Union. The past decade has seen the majority of the world shift under the cultural, economic and military influence of the US. This staggering and as yet unchecked power is in large part gained not through coercion but through persuasion. This ability to convince other actors in the world to act in a way that is beneficial to US interests is consistent with traditional Gramscian notions of hegemony. The content of the global media, as one of the primary disseminators of the hegemon's message inside civil society, should provide insight into the overall debate occurring within it. Thus an examination of the content of the global media leading up to the recent US invasion of Iraq could provide some insight into the relative strength of the global hegemon. The results of this study clearly suggest that the US’s “power to define” is in decline and that the hegemon is in the midst of a crisis of authority that could be a sign of its irreversible decay.