Hegemonic Decline and the Possibility of International Cooperation: Comments on Duncan Snidal's 'The Limits of Hegemonic Stability Theory'

Abstract

Hovi, J. & Rasch, B. E. Hegemonic Decline and the Possibility of International Cooperation: Comments on Duncan Snidal's 'The Limits of Hegemonic Stability Theory'. Cooperation and Conflict, XXI, 1986, 241-251.

This research note offers some support for Duncan Snidal's proposition that declining hegemony does not necessarily mean vanishing international cooperation. It is however argued that Snidal's own defence of this proposition is ill-founded. A model is presented that in a theoretically more satisfactory way restores the basis of Snidal's critique against hegemonic stability theory. Not only does the model improve the theoretical foundations of Snidal's reasoning, it also yields interesting predictions beyond those obtained by him. In particular, it challenges the conventional wisdom that hegemonic decline worsens the situation of all countries involved. Both small states and — surprisingly — the hegemon itself may stand to gain from the decline of the leader.