emperor

Resumen

De Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

• “The world is full of the markers of abandoned empires, from Hadrian’s Wall to the Great Wall of China, from the remnants of the one in Arizona to the remnants of the one in Berlin.”

• “It was this idea (Be nice!) that fueled liberals' rage at Reagan when he vanquished the Soviet Union with his macho "cowboy diplomacy" that was going to get us all blown up. As the Times editorial page hysterically described Reagan's first year in office: "Mr. Reagan looked at the world through gun sights." Yes, he did! And now the Evil Empire is no more.”

• “The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful.”

• “Cultural elites in countries that dominate peoples have adapted subject people’s religion for their own purposes.”

• “Empires have no interest in operating within an international system; they aspire to be the international system. Empires have no need for a balance of power. That is how the United States has conducted its foreign policy in the Americas, and China through most of its history in Asia.”

• “Empires are inherently politically unstable because subordinate units almost always prefer greater autonomy, and counterelites in such units almost always act, upon opportunity, to obtain greater autonomy. In this sense, empires do not fall; they rather fall apart, usually very slowly, though sometimes remarkably quickly.”

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.