AT the end of the 1980s, US policy-makers announced that the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disintegration of its eastern European sphere of influence had ushered in a 'New World Order' or what some Washington ideologues described as a unipolar' world. Today, however, the victors in the cold war are being forced to grapple with the consequences of their success: the resurgence and intensification of inter- capitalist rivalries political, military and economic. Large-scale investments, aid and exports enabled a re-unified Germany to quickly establish itself as the dominant capitalist power in eastern and central Europe. Not least, Bonn took over as Russia's major foreign creditor. Meanwhile, France revived an issue of long-standing political and military friction with the US, pressing ahead with efforts to create a European security system independent, and at the expense, of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) where its influence would predo- minate. The proliferation of regional blocs and agreements (NAFTA, Maastricht, ASEAN, etc) reflected efforts by the leading capitalist countries to consolidate power centres that would enable them to reach out into the larger world economy.
