How Far Can A Lonely Hegemon Go? Ding Xinghao and Deng Fan With the end of the Iraq War and the fall of Saddam Hussein, the United States won a military victory. Politically, however, the United States got into trouble and its soft power has obviously been weakened. The Bush Administration is in a dilemma. On the one hand, it wants to maintain its hegemonic position; on the other, under domestic and foreign pressure it has to make certain tactical adjustment. While still clinging to unilateralism on the basis of power, it will not rule out political and diplomatic solutions at possible times and in possible places.