 Hegemony is the preponderance of power at one pole in the international system, and the theory argues this is a stable configuration because of mutual gains by both the dominant power and others in the international system.This is contrary to many neorealist arguments, particularly made by Kenneth Waltz, stating that the end of the Cold War and the state of unipolarity is an unstable configuration that will inevitably change.The case of Gilpin proved to be correct and Waltz's article titled "The Stability of a Bipolar World"  was followed in 1999 by William Wohlforth's article titled "The Stability of a Unipolar World"

Waltz's thesis can be expressed in power transition theory, which states that it is likely that a great power would challenge a hegemon after a certain period, resulting in a major war.