BharatNotes Hegemony
nounUsage in a UPSC answer
India's foreign policy has long resisted any single power exercising hegemony over the Indo-Pacific, championing instead a multipolar order anchored in strategic autonomy and sovereign equality among nations.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
hegemon (n), hegemonic (adj), hegemonically (adv), hegemonism (n), hegemonist (n)
Root
Greek hēgemonia = leadership, supremacy; hēgemōn = leader; hēgeisthai = to lead
Etymology
From Greek hēgemonia 'leadership, supremacy', from hēgemōn 'leader', from hēgeisthai 'to lead'; borrowed into English in the mid-16th century, originally referring to the dominance of one ancient Greek city-state over others.
Memory Hook
Think "He-gem-ony": the one who holds the GEM (the crown jewel of power) leads and dominates all the rest, just as the Greek hēgemōn (leader) commanded the lesser city-states.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
In international relations, the predominance of one State such that it can shape the rules and expectations of the system, sustained substantially by acceptance rather than by force alone. That consent dimension is what makes hegemony analytically distinct from raw dominance, and it explains why hegemonic orders persist beyond the point at which material superiority alone would sustain them. Applied to Indian foreign policy, the concept underlies strategic autonomy and the resistance to bloc alignment.
Don’t Confuse It With
Hegemony is leadership sustained largely through acceptance. Dominance rests on coercive capacity. Primacy denotes being first in capability without implying rule-setting authority. Balance of power is the condition hegemony displaces, in which no single State predominates.
Hindi Meaning
आधिपत्य (ādhipatya).
Common Questions
- What is hegemony in international relations?
- The predominance of one State to the extent that it shapes the rules and expectations of the international system, sustained substantially by acceptance rather than coercion alone.
- How is hegemony different from dominance?
- Dominance rests on coercive power. Hegemony depends significantly on other States accepting the leading State's rules as legitimate.
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