Empire: World History

The great myth of empire collapse | Aeon Essays

Societal downfalls loom large in history and popular culture but, for the 99 per cent, collapse often had its upsides

Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power since 1500

Explore how technical and social structures co-evolved over five centuries in this large-scale research visualization.

Imperial Ends: The Decay, Collapse, and Revival of Empires

Despite their historical importance, empires have received scant attention from social scientists. Now, Alexander J. Motyl examines the structure, dynamics, and continuing relevance of empire—and asks, "Why do empires decline? Why do some empires collapse? And why do some collapsed empires revive?"Rejecting choice-centered theories of imperial decline, Motyl maintains that the very structure of empires promotes decay and that decay in turn facilitates the progressive loss of territory. Although most major empires have in fact declined in this manner, some, such as the Soviet Union, have collapsed suddenly and comprehensively. Motyl explains how and why collapse occurs, why such an outcome is hard to foresee, and why some collapsed empires revive. While broad-ranging historically and empirically, Imperial Ends focuses on five modern empires: the Soviet, Romanov, Ottoman, Habsburg, and Wilhelmine.Examining the possibility of a revival of the Soviet empire, Motyl points out that the expansion of NATO and the European Union, along with increasing globalization, will isolate Russia and its neighbors, promoting their dependence upon one another and perhaps facilitating the rise of the former core. With boldly stated conclusions and concise analytical interpretations, Imperial Ends cohesively illustrates to policymakers and social scientists alike the importance of possible imperial revivals and the rise of future empires.

Rise of the Empire expands Star Wars: Rebellion in all the right ways

Review: A new hope for the 3-hour board game.

How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United …

A pathbreaking history of the United States' overseas p…

Foundation and Empire (Foundation, #2)

Foundation and Empire tells the incredible story of a n…

The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

Even if you don’t think it’s likely, it’s always best to be prepared.

The Returns of Empire?

Or the Beginning of Banditry

Collections: What Do Historians Do?

For this week, I want to take a step back (we’ll be back to our series on Rings of Power next week!) and talk about the craft of history: we’ve talked about “How Your History Gets…

Study Guide: Empire of AI by Karen Hao (SuperSummary)

Analyzing literature can be hard — we make it easy! Thi…

AI’s Imperial Agenda

“Empire of AI” author Karen Hao on how Silicon Valley’s young AI companies parallel colonial empires of old.

Internet History Sourcebooks: Medieval Sourcebook

Home | Ancient History Sourcebook | Medieval Sourcebook |  Modern History Sourcebook | Byzantine Studies Page Other History Sourcebooks: African | East Asian | Indian | Islamic | Jewish |  Lesbian and Gay | Science | Women's | Global

Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century - Monthly Review

John Smith teaches international political economy at Kingston University in London. This paper has been abstracted from his book Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century, forthcoming from Monthly Review Press in... READ MORE