Pax Americana

Extracted Attributes

• Meaning

  American Peace (Latin)

• Warning

  Potential damage to brand of US Treasuries and Pax Americana (Ken Griffin)

• Modeled After

  Pax Romana, Pax Britannica

• Primary Power

  United States (economic, cultural, military)

• Defining Feature

  Unipolarity, world organization around a single center of power (United States)

• Current Challenges

  High tariffs on China, supply chain realignments, China's technological advancements (thorium, molten salt reactors, fusion energy)

• Foundational Element

  Marshall Plan

• Criticism (Global South)

  Mirage, peace through militarism, favorable conditions restricted to Euro-Atlantic region

• Geographic Scope (early)

  Western Hemisphere, Western world

• Marshall Plan Aid (2023 equivalent)

  US$173 billion

Timeline

• Beginning of Pax Americana following the end of World War II, with the United States emerging as the dominant global power. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1945-01-01

• Marshall Plan enacted, transferring US$13.3 billion (equivalent to $173 billion in 2023) in economic recovery programs to Western European countries, described as 'the launching of the Pax Americana'. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1948-04-03

• From 1945 to 1991, Pax Americana was a partial international order, applying primarily to the Western world, sometimes referred to as Pax Americana et Sovietica. (Source: web_search_results)

  1945-01-01

• Foundations of an integrative, cooperative, and mutually legitimate 'Pax Atlantica' laid in Europe between 1947 and 1955. (Source: web_search_results)

  1947-01-01

• From 1992 to the present, the term Pax Americana carries different connotations, with commentators focusing on American policies during this period. (Source: web_search_results)

  1992-01-01

• Financier Ken Griffin warns about potential damage to the brand of US Treasuries and Pax Americana due to aggressive trade strategies and geopolitical shifts. (Source: related_documents)

  2024-01-01

• China's significant technological advancements in thorium reserves, molten salt reactors, and fusion energy pose a major long-term challenge to US dominance and the stability of Pax Americana. (Source: related_documents)

  2024-01-01

Pax Americana

Pax Americana (Latin for 'American Peace', modeled after Pax Romana and Pax Britannica), often identified with the "Long Peace", is a term applied to the concept of relative peace in the Western Hemisphere and later in the world after the end of World War II in 1945, when the United States of America became the world's foremost economic, cultural, and military power exercising primary responsibilities for world order. Though in large measure based on consent and cooperation, the defining feature of the Pax Americana is unipolarity, world organization around a single center of power. In this sense, Pax Americana has come to describe the military and economic position of the United States relative to other nations. In the aftermath of World War II the American federal government enacted the Marshall Plan, the transferring of US$13.3 billion (the equivalent of $173 billion in 2023) in economic recovery programs to Western European countries; the Marshall Plan has been described as "the launching of the Pax Americana".

Web Search Results

• Pax Americana - Wikipedia

  Pax Americana (Latin for 'American Peace', modeled after Pax Romana and Pax Britannica), often identified with the "Long Peace", is a term applied to the concept of relative peace in the Western Hemisphere and later in the world after the end of World War II in 1945, when the United States of America became the world's foremost economic, cultural, and military power exercising primary responsibilities for world order. Though in large measure based on consent and cooperation, the defining [...] The modern Pax Americana may be seen as similar to the period of peace in Rome, Pax Romana. In both situations, the period of peace was 'relative peace'. During both Pax Romana and Pax Americana wars continued to occur, but it was still a prosperous time for both Western and Roman civilizations. It is important to note that during these periods, and most other times of relative tranquility, the peace that is referred to does not mean complete peace. Rather, it simply means the civilization [...] The modern Pax Americana era is cited by supporters and critics of U.S. foreign policy after World War II. From 1945 to 1991, it was a partial international order, as it applied only to the Western world, being preferable for some authors to speak about a Pax Americana et Sovietica. Many commentators and critics focus on American policies from 1992 to the present, and as such, it carries different connotations depending on the context. For example, it appears three times in the 90-page

• Toward a New Pax Americana | Hudson Institute

  The term “Pax Americana” (American Peace) refers to the international order the United States constructed after World War II and the decades of relative peace and prosperity that followed under the U.S. economic and military leadership of the free world, notwithstanding the context of a Cold War with the threat of the Soviet Union. [...] Instead of American arms, productivity, and instrumentalities flowing outward to sustain and support allies and the global economy, the new Pax Americana relies on achieving a proper balance between American interests and those of our democratic allies in order to generate a more stable and equitable global system and confront the current and future threat from the Beijing-Moscow-Tehran axis. [...] The hierarchical American bloc that was improvised by the US and its allies after the Second World War has proved remarkably resilient, defying repeated predictions that it would collapse from bankruptcy or overextension. The Pax Americana survived the Cold War and the post-Cold War era and—at least for now—today’s Second Cold War has strengthened rather than weakened America’s informal empire…[T]he Pax Americana in its eighth decade is alive, if not exactly well.

• Inflection Points: Pax Americana at a Crossroad | GJIA

  For many in the Global South, the ‘American Peace’ or Pax Americana is a mirage amid a world of war, economic hardship, forced migration, environmental calamity, and political repression while lacking local and global representation. Outside of the Euro-Atlantic space, the ‘American Peace’ represents an oxymoron. To gain legitimacy as a global leader in the twenty-first century, the United States must lead the reform of the post-World War II global institutions to initiate greater [...] In 1945, at the end of World War II, much of the Global South was occupied by European empires. As the determination of self-rule gained traction within these empires, the colonial powers brutally challenged the resistance against their empires by establishing Pax Americana or peace through militarism. However, critics argue that Pax Americana has been Janus-faced, meting out favorable conditions restricted to the Euro-Atlantic region. In the sovereign nation-states that emerged from colonial [...] To lead the transformation from ‘Pax Americana’ to a more inclusive world order—‘Pax Universalis’—the United States must consider the interests of the Global South as it considers those of the Euro-Atlantic space. With the Chinese promise of limited restrictions on developmental aid, and the Russian assurance of security protection in a multipolar world, less powerful countries are increasingly attracted due to their economic and security interests. They would rather work with China and Russia

• “Pax Americana”: the United States and the transformation ... - Redalyc

  British “world order” of the 19th century. In the context of these debates, the term “Pax Americana” is still most commonly used to describe the American superpower’s supremacy after 1945, mainly in the “Western world,” and the relative peace, stability, and prosperity it brought to some, but by no means all states and societies that came to be in the US sphere of influence during the Cold War. At the same time, there has been an ever more dominant tendency to link different notions of an [...] temptation to act unilaterally and impose a “Pax Americana” – which ultimately could not be resisted – in America’s relations to other parts of the world, what prevailed in its relation to Europe, after 1945, was the overall commitment to create and preserve a new consensual, and ultimately far more legitimate, thus durable “Pax Atlantica.” [...] This order, whose foundations were laid between 1947 and 1955, can be characterised, not so much as a Euro-Atlantic “Pax Americana,” but as an integrative, cooperative and mutually legitimate Atlantic peace. It would thus be misleading to characterise it – as Lundestad (2003) has done – as a peace system whose parameters were set, dominated by a new kind of “American empire” or even “empire by invitation.” Instead, the reorientation of US hegemonic policies, and the fundamental learning

• PAX AMERICANA Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

  link icon link icon link icon Definition Definition # Pax Americana ## Latin noun phrase How to pronounce Pax Americana (audio) ## Browse Nearby Words ## Cite this Entry “Pax Americana.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Accessed 20 Jul. 2025. Copy Citation ## Share Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! ## More from Merriam-Webster [...] ## Games & Quizzes Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word. Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points. Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing? a plate of arepas Learn a new word every day. Delivered to your inbox! [...] © 2025 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

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• Country

  United States

• Instance Of

  Q2101619

Pax Americana (Latin for "American Peace", modeled after Pax Romana and Pax Britannica; also called the Long Peace) is a term applied to the concept of relative peace in the Western Hemisphere and later in the world after the end of World War II in 1945, when the United States became the world's dominant economic and military power. In this sense, Pax Americana has come to describe the military and economic position of the United States relative to other nations. The Marshall Plan, which spent $13 billion after World War II to rebuild the economies of Western Europe, has been described as "the launching of the Pax Americana".