For decades, globalization was conceived as one of the main drivers of positive transformation in the international system. The prevailing belief among academics and policymakers was that the intensification of flows of goods, services, capital, and people would promote economic growth and greater political stability.

According to power transition theory, when a rising power approaches the level of a dominant power, rivalry and instability tend to increase (Organski, 1958). In turn, offensive realism argues that states seek to maximize their relative power as a way to ensure their survival in an anarchic international system (Mearsheimer, 2001).