Argues that the United States is both economically and militarily the most powerful empire in history and will feel negative consequences as a result of imposing unrealistic timescales on interventions abroad.
America's quagmire in Vietnam, France's preoccupation with overseas empire, Japan's attack on the United States, Germany's aggression in Europe, Britain's appeasement of Hitler - what motivated these bouts of self-defeating behavior? According to Charles A. Kupchan, all of these…
America's quagmire in Vietnam, France's preoccupation with overseas empire, Japan's attack on the United States, Germany's aggression in Europe, Britain's appeasement of Hitler - what motivated these bouts of self-defeating behavior? According to Charles A. Kupchan, all of these…
"This volume which brings together experts in the history of the ancient Mediterranean and early China, makes a first step in this direction by presenting a series of comparative case studies on clearly defined aspects of state formation in early eastern and western Eurasia, foc…
Acknowledgments. List of maps, figures, and tables. Notes on contributors. Chronology. Maps. Introduction, Walter Scheidel. 1. From the "Great Convergence" to the "First Great Divergence:" Roman and Qin Han State Formation and its Aftermath, Walter Scheidel. 2. War, State Format…
Do the politicians in Washington dictate the rules that the rest of the world must follow? Or do empires have a logic of their own? This book analyses the characteristics of empires and traces the rise and fall of imperial powers. It also shows how empires provide stability, and…
What is an empire? -- Empire, imperialism and hegemony: a necessary distinction -- Steppe empires, sea empires and global economies: a short typology of imperial rule -- Civilization and barbarian frontiers: tasks and hallmarks of imperial order -- The defeat of empires by the p…
"This book is a walk through the history of empires and at the same time an analysis of the most modern of topics. It will appeal to students and scholars of international politics and history as well as general readers interested in political history and contemporary world poli…
"After Tamerlane takes a fresh look at our global past. Our idea of world history is still dominated by the view from the West: it is Europe's expansion that takes centre-stage. But for much of the 600-year span of this book, Asia's great empires seemed more than a match for the…
"After Tamerlane takes a fresh look at our global past. Our idea of world history is still dominated by the view from the West: it is Europe's expansion that takes centre-stage. But for much of the 600-year span of this book, Asia's great empires seemed more than a match for the…