Legacies of Empire Imperial Roots of the Contemporary Global Order [Paperback]

This book reveals how the structures and practices of past empires interact with and shape contemporary 'national' ones.Structures and practices associated with past empires continue to shape the contemporary world in surprising ways. Modern armies, multiculturalism, globalised finance, modern city-states, and the United Nations are grounded in or shaped by the legacies of past empires. This book also considers the likely legacies of the current American 'empire'.Structures and practices associated with past empires continue to shape the contemporary world in surprising ways. Modern armies, multiculturalism, globalised finance, modern city-states, and the United Nations are grounded in or shaped by the legacies of past empires. This book also considers the likely legacies of the current American 'empire'.The nation-state is a fairly recent historical phenomenon. Human history over the past two to four millennia has been dominated by empires, and the legacies of these empires continues to shape the contemporary world in ways that are not always recognised or fully understood. Much research and writing about European colonial empires has focused on relations between them and their colonies. This book examines the phenomenon of empire from a different perspective. It explores the imprint that imperial institutions, organisational principles, practices, and logics have left on the modern world. It shows that many features of the contemporary world - modern armies, multiculturalism, globalised finance, modern city-states, the United Nations - have been profoundly shaped by past empires. It also applies insights about the impact of past empires to contemporary politics and considers the long-term institutional legacies of the American 'empire'.1. Introduction: legacies of empire Sandra Halperin and Ronen Palan; Part I. Incomplete Transitions from Empires to Nation-States: 2. Political military legacies of empire in world politics Tarak Barkawi; 3. The second British Empirl3