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Hegemony

Dominance of one group or idea over others, maintained through both consent and coercion. In international relations, a condition in which one state's power is dominant enough to shape the rules and norms of the wider system — related to polarity (how many great powers dominate a system: unipolar, bipolar, or multipolar) but distinct from it, since hegemony implies shaping the system's norms, not merely being one of several comparably powerful states within it.

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