Larson, Deborah Welch

Abstract: Research on rising powers has made advances in studying new actors, broader questions, conceptualization, and models of world order. Instead of the previous focus on a hegemon and rising power in the power transition literature, scholars are focusing on major and middle powers such as India, Brazil, and Turkey. Instead of a narrow concern with prospects for hegemonic war, researchers are examining the effects of rising powers on global governance and world order. Some scholars argue that rising powers are not trying to overturn the international order, but to establish a parallel order within it. Advances have also been made in conceptualization, such as the important concept of accommodation, transcending the earlier narrow concern with territorial accommodation or appeasement. More work has been done on the concept of clubs such as the BRICS and the G20. Finally, scholars are identifying new, more pluralistic patterns of world order, in which countries specialize in various tasks.