The primary security concern currently facing America is the threat of a major hegemonic war with China. There have been at least three hegemonic wars in modern times which completely changed the way society was organized.

The first was the Thirty Years War (1619 to 1648). This war was fought over three political, economic and ideological issues dealing with the European state system. The specific issues were: Was Europe to be controlled by the Habsburg imperial dynasty or independent nation-states; was feudalism or capitalism to be the primary mode of economic organization; and was the Catholic or Protestant religion to be dominant.

The second modern hegemonic war was the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars (1792 to 1815). These wars also dealt with political, economic and ideological issues namely: Whether France or Great Britain would control Europe’s political system; whether mercantilist or market mechanisms would organize economics; and whether republican or conservative political forms would be the basis of domestic society.

The third modern hegemonic war was World War One (1914 to 1918) and World War Two (1939 to 1945) which can be considered one long war. Among the primary issues of World War One was the British-German naval arms race which was a classic version of a status quo nation-state being threatened by a rising power; the French-German animosity dating back to France’s defeat by Prussia/Germany in 1871 which gave Alsace and some parts of Lorraine to Germany; and the Russian-German/Austrian rivalry in the Balkans. World War Two was in many ways dealing with the unfinished business and failure of World War One’s Treaty of Versailles (1919) which led to the rise of Nazi Germany and Imperialist Japan.

The possible fourth modern hegemonic war could involve America vs. China. Once again the issues would be political, economic and ideological. Will America continue to dominate the economic (free markets over socialism) and political/ideological (democracy over authoritarianism) systems of most of the world or will China supplant America’s leadership position and will China use force to do so.

The bottom line is that hegemonic wars change everything and bring about a new regional or world order. Time will tell if we, in the near future, are about to engage in and witness yet another life-changing hegemonic war.