Inflection Points: Pax Americana at a Crossroad

Danielle Taana Smith

Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, June 2024

Danielle Taana Smith

Maxwell African Scholars Union

Global Governance

Government

United States

Georgetown Journal of International Affairs

Danielle Taana Smith

For many in the Global South, the ‘American Peace’ or Pax Americana is a mirage amid a world of war, economic hardship, forced migration, environmental calamity, and political repression while lacking local and global representation. Outside of the Euro-Atlantic space, the ‘American Peace’ represents an oxymoron.

To gain legitimacy as a global leader in the twenty-first century, the United States must lead the reform of the post-World War II global institutions to initiate greater representation for the Global South.