Abstract
This article challenges the theorem of non-polarity in international relations theory by employing mimetic theory', a notion associated with the French anthropologist Rene Girard. The article argues that non-polarity is a distorted visual effect that conceals the actual polar configurations in global politics. So-called new wars' are seemingly asymmetrical and are said to mobilize fronts on the basis of identity'. However, on closer inspection new wars appear to be shaped by underlying mimetic forces, whereby the contenders behave like doubles', each reflecting its own image in the wishes and actions of the other. The article picks up and develops a clue from political theorist Herfried Munkler, that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is a miniature copy of global political line-ups'. The conflict is placed here in its mimetic context, and implications for political theory and the theory of international relations are drawn.