In Ancient Greece (ca. 8th BC – AD 6th c.), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the hegemoncity-state over other city-states.[4] In the 19th century, hegemony denoted the "social or cultural predominance or ascendancy; predominance by one group within a society or milieu" and "a group or regime which exerts undue influence within a society".[5]
In theories of imperialism, the hegemonic order dictates the internal politics and the societal character of the subordinate states that constitute the hegemonic sphere of influence, either by an internal, sponsored government or by an external, installed government. The term hegemonism denoted the geopolitical and the cultural predominance of one country over other countries, e.g. the hegemony of the Great Powers established with European colonialism in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.[6]
^Mearsheimer, John J. (2001). "Chapter 2". The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN978-0-393-34927-6.
^"Hegemony". Oxford Advanced American Dictionary. Dictionary.com, LLC. 2014. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
^Chernow, Barbara A.; Vallasi, George A., eds. (1994). The Columbia Encyclopedia (5th ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. p. 1215. ISBN0-231-08098-0.
^Bullock, Alan; Trombley, Stephen, eds. (1999). The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought (3rd ed.). London: HarperCollins. pp. 387–388. ISBN0-00-255871-8.