The Rise and Fall of
the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000 by Paul Kennedy
For those who think
that America will always be number one, this book should be enlightening.
Citizens of the British, Ottoman, and Austro-Hungarian empires doubtless though
the same, as did citizens of Ming China and Imperial France. The lesson of this
excellent book is that power erodes, that no state can have enough financial,
economic, and military power to ever be secure. Much of the subject would be
dry but for the author’s excellent writing and research that pulled up key
quotes. (My favorite is; “A
mass media…whose raison d’etre is to make money and secure audiences and
only secondarily to inform.” ) As an overview of history from 1500 to 1989, when it
was published, it can’t be topped. Professor Kennedy foresees the rise of China
as a world power, but not the collapse of the Soviet empire or the reunification
of Germany. I took the liberty of emailing him to ask if he had published
anything updating these areas. He has just submitted a 685page Ms. Victory
at Sea; 1936-1946. He also said that by the second half of this year he
would turn in a new edition of Great Powers. I plan to read both, “If I’m
spared,” as the Scots say.
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