Hegemonic Decline: Present and Past

Summary

Although the United States is currently the world's only military and economic superpower, the nation's superpower status may not last. The possible futures of the global system and the role of U.S. power are illuminated by careful study of the past. This book addresses the problems of conceptualizing and assessing hegemonic rise and decline in comparative and historical perspective. Several chapters are devoted to the study of hegemony in premodern world-systems. And several chapters scrutinize the contemporary position and trajectory of the United States in the larger world-system in comparison with the rise and decline of earlier great powers, such as the Dutch and British empires. Contributors: Kasja Ekholm, Johnny Persson, Norihisa Yamashita, Giovanni Arrighi, Beverly Silver, Karen Barkey, Jonathan Friedman, Christopher Chase-Dunn, Rebecca Giem, Andrew Jorgenson, John Rogers, Shoon Lio, Thomas Reifer, Peter Taylor, Albert Bergesen, Omar Lizardo, Thomas D. Hall.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Jonathan Friedman and Christopher Chase-Dunn; On The Way To The Modern World-System; The final collapse of the Mediterranean-Egyptian-Near Eastern Bronze Age as a global systemic phenomenon Kasja Ekholm; Escaping a Closed Universe: World-System Crisis, Regional Dynamics and the Rise of Aegean Palatial Society; Johnny Persson; Parallel Decline of Early Modern Hegemonies: The Concept of early Modern Regional System and the Globality of the 18th Century: Norihisa Yamashita; Comparing Modern Hegemonic Declines; The 'double movement': the Belles Epoques of British and U.S. hegemony compared; Giovanni Arrighi and Beverly Silver; A perspective on Ottoman Decline; Karen Barkey; On not learning from history. Systemic properties of hegemonic decline: structure and culture Jonathan Friedman; The U.S. Trajectory in the World-System; Christopher Chase-Dunn, Rebecca Giem, Andrew Jorgenson, John Rogers and Shoon Lio; Hegemonic Transitions, Globalization & Global Elite Formation; Thomas Reifer; Hegemonic Decline And Resistance; The problem of Dutch hegemonic decline and its Relationship to Globalization; Peter Taylor; Terrorism and Hegemonic Decline; Albert Bergesen and Omar Lizardo; Indigenous Peoples and Hegemonic Change: Opportunities for Resistance or Dangerous Times? Thomas D. Hall; Conclusion: Christopher Chase-Dunn and Jonathan Friedman