Aftermath of Empires - Challenges & Rise of New Powers

Empires have been the dominant form of large-scale political organisation from antiquity for at least two millennia, unlike the modern bureaucratic states, which have been here for just a few centuries.

Illustration by The Geostrata

WHAT IS AN EMPIRE?

Empire is an umbrella term encompassing colonialism and imperialism, both of which hold different implications.

Suny writes that an empire is “a particular form of domination or control between two units set apart in a hierarchical, inequitable relationship, more precisely a composite state in which a metropole dominates a periphery to the disadvantage of the periphery.”

While imperialism entails control over foreign lands without the annexation of territory or sovereignty, as also mentioned by Benedict Anderson (theorists of modern nationalism) in Imagined Communities (1983) – the nation is an imagined political community that is inherently limited in scope and sovereign in nature.

The imagined community is sovereign because its legitimacy is not derived from divinity as kingship is – the nation is its own authority, it is founded in its name, and it invents its own people which it deems citizens and on the other hand colonialism involves direct authority over lands and is perceived as inferior to their occupiers in legal, administrative, social, and cultural terms.

In simple terms, an Empire – is a major political unit where a single sovereign authority dominates over a large number of territories through formal and informal means of - military occupation, political intervention, economic pressure, and cultural-ideological persuasion.

FALL OF EMPIRES

Throughout history, different empires emerged, but the imbalanced relationship between the metropole (core) and peripheral states remained the same. The key to the formation, survival, and decline of all historical empires is the core’s state use of incentives, coercion, or a combination of both. When the core state’s resource extraction turns into exploitation, it becomes the reason for the decline - eventually - faster and further the more they exploit.

As stated by Paul Kennedy in his book “The Rise and Fall of Great Power”, – empires decline because of 'imperial overstretch' when the military costs of expansion and defence exceed the fiscal capacity of the state.

This is undoubtedly an ancillary cause of economic and political decline, but in reality a by-product of the internal problem.

Over history, the fall of all great empires reflects the uneven distribution of the resource base and the rising cost of military and economic power in a globalised, competitive world.

Alexander the Great built his enormous empire largely by the use of military force, which is regarded as a cradle for future empires – was unravelled due to its vast size after his death, which never satisfied rulers ambitions.

The Roman Empire (27 BCE - 46 CE) built on more peaceful methods to advance civilization – declined due to internal corruption and instability, the Eastern Empire flourished while the Western Empire struggled.

The Mauryan Empire (322 BCE - 185 BCE) in India, created in the wake of Alexander’s empire collapsing – suffered internal strife and turmoil following the death of Ashoka and in the absence of strong ruling authority.

The Han Empire (202 BCE - 220 CE) in China is another example, renowned for its administrative skills unifying autonomous provinces under a single rule and extensive trade networks, but eventually met with an inevitable fall as the empire had grown too large for the central government and the later Han emperors saw it as a means to fund lavish lifestyles.

The British Empire (1583 -1997), like those of France, Portugal, and Spain, used its maritime power and supremacy in global trade – and was economically devastated by the conflict.

While the Soviet Empire (1721-1917) applied ideological penetration alongside the older techniques of empire-building, which declined due to economic stagnation and the overextension of the military.

Even in the modern world, the relative strengths of the leading nations in world affairs never remain constant, principally because of the uneven rate of growth among different societies.

AFTERMATH - 21st CENTURIES EMPIRE

The “end of the empire” has been declared several times throughout history, which brings with it a power vacuum and instability. Despite economic disruption, political and cultural shifts, it creates opportunities for the rise of new power structures.

In the 21st century - the US, China, the European Union (EU), and Russia have been described as modern empires representing vast territorial units with global influence in economy, institutions and ideology.

In various regions of the world they have shaped the notion of legitimacy and have imposed significant domestic constraints on supposedly sovereign entities – viewing them as a kind of periphery to be governed by the imperial center. Their policies have been guided not merely by selfish interests but to benefit their region, if not the entire world.

With the collapse of the former Soviet empire and changed dynamics perhaps the phrase “Third World” itself deserves reconsideration. The American Empire (US) is the first empire in which the whole population, though very unequally, holds shares in the exploitation of the whole world.

Fareed Zakaria, in his book ‘Age of Revolution’ states that we live in ‘one of the most revolutionary ages in history’ where politics was once overwhelmingly shaped by economics; politics today is being transformed by identity.

Apart from the big four Japan, India, Brazil, South Africa and Germany show the emerging signs of empire giving rise to a multilateral world order.

Compared to multipolarity, multilateralism establishes far higher standards for international behaviour; it prioritises state collaboration over competition, which strengthens the international legitimacy and long-term viability of agreements made. Putting the former ‘Third World’ countries at the centre and making a more stable global empire.

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BY AGRIMA KUSHWAHA

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