Drawing on the theory of modern political legitimacy, this dissertation argues that modern political power at least needs to meet three preconditions in order to gain legitimacy. It then uses these preconditions to assess the legitimacy of the US international power in the post-Cold War era and finds that the US has suffered a legitimacy crisis and is facing a legitimacy dilemma of its power.
The hypotheses of this dissertation are as follows: each kind of power will face demand of legitimacy fro...