The Three Stages of Empire

oftwominds - Charles Hugh Smith: The Three Stages of Empire

I consider it self-evident that we are in the third and final stage of self-serving Imperial decay.

Though Edward Luttwak's The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire: From the First Century CE to the Third is not specifically on the rise and fall of empires, it does sketch out the three stages of Empire.

Here is the current context of the discussion of Imperial lifecycles: the U.S. defense budget is roughly the same size as the rest of the world's defense spending combined:

Cont......