Introduction Polarity in the context of international relations describes the way power is distributed within the international system (Walt 34). This can be either unipolarity, bipolarity, tripolarity and multipolarity, depending on the number of states between which the power is distributed (Raymond 102). Uni-polar or hegemonic power refers to system where one state has the most cultural, economic and military influence (Brooks 103). The United States has dominated the world since 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. This paper seeks to establish whether the international system is moving away from the US hegemonic power (uni-polar system) to a new system of international order. The paper will carry out an analysis on hegemonic states and state why this takes place or not, and if so, try to predict the new system that might emerge. Hegemony In the last two decades witnessed assertion of hegemonic (uni-polar) power by the United States. This was mainly expressed through invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan (Cohen 60). The unilateralism has continued to play through the endemic Global War on Terror (GWOT). The world has also witnessed globalization and the adoption of liberalism that is commonly referred to as “the American way” (Hurrell 133). This paper will not ignore or underestimate the uni-polar role that the United States continues to play, mainly in global politics. However, times are changing fast and some analysts are concluding that a multi-polar world order is taking shape as more and more developing countries emerging as formidable economic powers (Koenig 10). Many others are emerging as important poles of growth to sustain the new world order. However, other analysts observe that the United States will still play a very important role in the coming years. Two scenarios are developed in this paper, one is regarding the debate on the weakening of the US hegemonic powers and the notion that the US is still a global hegemonic power (Pape 27). This paper will mainly focus on the assertion that the US is still a global uni-polar power. The first thing that should be done is an in-depth analysis of all definitions of the term “hegemony”. For the purpose of this paper it’s important to give the various definitions of hegemony and give a concrete justification of its current importance in the academic arena. The most accepted meaning of the term hegemony is “leadership, authority and influence, especially of one state in a group of states” (Walt 20). From the international perspective, this role is often played by a country or state that has the military, economic and cultural capability to play this role, according to Cohen “the other states in the hegemonic system usually define their relationship with the hegemon” (28). A realist theory can be used to describe a situation where one state dictates the conditions which other states are to follow in anarchical world order (Hurrell 45). Another well known definition of hegemony was put forward by Gramsci. According to him, “hegemony is made up of a political power that flows from the intellectual and moral leadership, an authority as differentiated from that which comes from the armed forces” (Pape 36). Analysis of the American hegemony through realist and neorealist theories This section will basically descr