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Glubb, Sir John Bagot (1983). The changing scenes of life: an autobiography. Quartet Books. pp.58–59. ISBN 978-0-7043-2329-2. Over the holiday weekend the United States turned 244 years old. Time flies. But is this old for a nation? Do nations have lifespans like organisms? Aren’t ideas and principles immortal? It’s natural to speak of our nation as something that will continue indefinitely, long beyond our mortal existence. But a crucial distinction must be made: America was a nation in 1776; today she is an empire. Therefore, one could ask: do empires have lifespans?
The inescapable conclusion seems, however, to be that larger territorial units are a benefit to commerce and to public stability, whether the broader territory be achieved by voluntary association or by military action. What Americans need now is a cheery book that assures us how our global power and hegemony are destined to last, if not forever, for a good deal longer. This is not that book. The Fate of Empires is an obscure work, by an obscure man. Yet it apparently still has a following today, because quite frequently, I am asked to read and discuss it, most of all the relevance of its analysis of empire to the present American moment. And to be sure, as America flails impotently in a doomed effort to maintain global preeminence, a discussion of how empires end seems particularly timely. So I figured, why not?In 1976, at the age of 79, after a lifetime of service in the British army where he held high commands and fraternized with presidents and kings, Lieutenant General John Bagot Glubb, a.k.a Glubb Pasha, wrote a short but penetrating essay about the life cycle of superpowers called “The Fate of Empires”. Meyer, Karl E.; Brysac, Shareen Blair, Kingmakers: the Invention of the Modern Middle East, W.W. Norton, 2008, ISBN 978-0-393-06199-4 pp 259–92.
Read history. Look around you. Do countries and nations go through stages of life, just like us human beings? And if so, what stage is our civilization right now? And more importantly, what can we do in these times? Arthur John HUBBARD MD (1856-1935) was a British author, doctor, and world traveler who pursued an interest in the study of the rise and fall of world civilizations.
What is an empire?
Characters. The plot forms around them. Although, as I’m writing a series, I have a clear idea of particular things I want to do in the future so it’s always about nudging my characters in vaguely the right direction. I often joke that I write crime fiction because there’s an existing structure in place – bad thing happens, protagonist investigates, culprit is found. Within that structure, I have total freedom and I can subvert it if I want to. If that weren't bad enough, the worldwide economic crisis has laid the country low with high unemployment, an immense federal government deficit, rising inflation and depressed home values. Other challenges loom ahead, flowing from the European Union's growing political and economic integration, Russia's increased strength and assertiveness, and China's rapid economic, industrial and military growth.
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