OU Researcher Leads Investigation of Global Power Dynamics

By

Date

NORMAN, OKLA. – International security is a global concern. With support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the University of Oklahoma’s Center for Peace and Development is leading the exploration of the ongoing economic and political power competition among powerful and rising nations.

The principal investigator of the grant is Firat Demir, co-director of OU’s Center for Peace and Development and founding member of Security in Context, a partner organization involved in this research. The project has two primary areas of study: the political economy of the multipolarity and power competition among countries.

Multipolarity describes the global system in which multiple powerful countries, or poles, coexist and influence international relations. Each pole has significant economic, political or military power, but no single country or alliance dominates the international system.

“This global power competition has been taking place for years and we expect it to intensify in the years to come,” Demir said. “With rising power from BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – we must explore the questions of global economic security, sanctions and economic warfare. We also want to include the global South in that discussion.”

The term global South refers to countries that are economically less developed, including emerging and developing economies, and primarily located in the southern hemisphere. These regions include Africa, Latin America, South Asia and islands across the Pacific Ocean, collectively known as Oceania.

“The Middle East and North African region are major areas of competition between the United States and China, but also involve Russia, Western Europe and others,” he said. “The recent events in Syria highlight the significance of this global struggle.”

Demir’s team will examine global capitalism and transnational war economies. They will put significant focus on the financialization of defense industries, from production to the global distribution of weapons.

“When the U.S. gives military aid to an ally country, does it reduce or increase security in that country? When China increases trade partnerships and investment, does that help or hurt the country involved and what are the costs and benefits to China? These are important questions,” he said.

According to Demir, this is challenging research because much of the data is difficult to quantify.

“Surprisingly, there is very little written about what classifies as a weapon. Is the drone that a child gets as a gift a weapon? Is the concrete used in a building’s construction considered a weapon? If the U.S. provides arms to an ally country who then sends those weapons to rebels in a conflict zone, how is that reported? This information, along with data on influence and power, is difficult to quantify because they’re defined differently by different countries,” Demir said.

Learn more about this research through the OU Center for Peace and Development.