The U.S. remains a great and powerful nation, but its unipolar moment has passed. It no longer leads the world, because there is no single "top dog" in the old sense. Pax Americana is no more; and Western hegemony is in severe decline. This is why it is surely time for a clean break, and a new strategic direction – or, at the very least, to answer some immediate and important questions for British foreign policy.

John Worne’s International Relations Positioning Spectrum (IRPS), and Nick Cull’s response provide interesting perspectives on th

At the British Council – the UK’s international cultural and educational body – we’ve been thinking about what we call the International Relations Positioning Spectrum. It draws on work by Nick Cull and work done by Ali Fisher and Counterpoint, our cultural relations think tank on ‘'Options for Influence’.