THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XI, Issue # 156, July 19, 2009
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
HOW EMPIRES DIE
By Alan Caruba
SOVEREIGN STATES, WARS, INTERNATIONAL POLITICS, EMPIRES, & ISSUES OF ENDURING IMPORTANCE: WHAT
MAKES GREAT EMPIRES ENDURE OR COLLAPSE? HOW DO GOVERNMENTS DEFEND THEIR ACTIONS? WHAT
CAUSES THE BREAKUP OF A LEVIATHAN SUPERSTATE? WHEN IS IT RIGHT TO GO TO WAR, OR PURCHASE PEACE,
OR PAY OFF AN ENEMY?
FULL STORY:
I recently read an interesting book by Christopher Kelly, The End of Empire: Attila the Hun and The Fall of
Rome. Our popular image of Attila is that of a barbaric pagan, but Priscus of Panium set off to meet Attila in 449
AD, and, as Kelly relates, “Attila turned out to be surprisingly civilized and a dangerously shrewd player of
international politics.”
It’s always a good idea to review one’s assumptions about the world in which one lives, such as the current
politically correct view that Islam is “a religion of peace” and that the barbarity of Al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, and other
Arab groups is an anomaly, the result of their incorrect interpretation of the Koran. Their interpretation,
however, is quite accurate, and the Koran is a call to arms and battle plan for the conquest of the world.
From America’s earliest years, it has had to deal with marauding Arabs, and, in modern times, we have put our troops
in harm’s way in the Middle East in Beirut in the 1980s and to drive Iraq out of Kuwait in August, 1990.
Following the 9-11 Islamist terror attack on the U.S.A., we returned to the Islamic Middle East in 2001 to drive
Al-Qa'ida and the Taliban out of Afghanistan. Al-Qa'ida and the Taliban left Afghanistsn and took refuge in the
frontier provinces of Pakistan and have since returned to the killing fields of our choosing, if killing one’s sworn
enemies can be called a choice.
On March 20, 2003, the Second Gulf War was launched against Iraq, and we are now beginning to withdraw troops
from Iraq’s cities. A large contingent of U.S. military will remain in Iraq. At the same time, there has been a buildup of
troops in Afghanistan. Historically, no empire has ever successfully conquered or subdued the Afghani tribes, and,
in modern times, the most recent effort brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union.
It is generally agreed that the real threat to Mideast stability is Iran and that the shakiest nation in the region is
Pakistan.
History teaches us that the Emperors of the Roman Empire had to make choices about where they, too, would place
their troops throughout the vast expanse under their control. That Empire surrounded the Mediterranean Sea, which
the Romans called "Mare Nostrum" ("our sea").
At the end of his book, Kelly asks:
"What makes great empires endure or collapse?
How do governments defend their actions? What
causes the breakup of a leviathan superstate?
When is it right to go to war, or purchase peace,
or pay off an enemy"
Kelly goes on to say: "These are issues of enduring importance."
When an empire gets too large for its military and financial resources to maintain, it becomes highly vulnerable. An
empire, too, depends on its alliances. When they go bad, the empire — any empire — is in trouble.
The Roman Empire fell for many reasons, but chief among them was the relentless arithmetic of demography, the
movement of populations of people.
The Romans regarded the Goths and Vandals as “barbarians,” but the Goth tribes were people who were just as
challenged by the Huns as the Romans, and they were on the move to find more land for their growing population.
In doing so, they crossed the Danube to trespass on Roman lands in France, in Spain, and down into Northern
Africa.
By contrast,
“. . . the Huns seemingly offered no moral or religious
justification, however thin or unconvincing. They
sought neither to find a new homeland on Roman
territory nor to glorify themselves as heroic freedom
fighters warring down a harsh imperial regime.”
“The Huns appear more brutal precisely because they
had no known motive for their raids beyond the
acquisition of booty and captives.”
This last observation is particularly important because the rise of Islam can be traced directly to the same purpose. It
was, however, masked by Mohammed’s promise of paradise for anyone who fell in battle and servitude for those
conquered.
Here’s where the similarities between America and the ancient Romans get really interesting. At the same time the
American nation engages Islamic terrorism, our national sovereignty — the integrity of our borders — is being
challenged as, not just thousands, but millions, of illegal aliens have invaded America to take up residence among us.
This repeats the pattern that brought down the Roman Empire.
Having forsaken universal conscription, the U.S.A. depends on an all-voluntary military to project our power. The
Romans, toward the end, often allied with the Goths to fight the Huns and, on occasion, allied with the Huns as well.
With the exception of the British, Canadians and Australians, our military allies are mostly for show.
Not only is our financial stability at risk, but, since the 1960s, the level of decadence in our society has risen, reflected
in popular culture and the media. Our primary and secondary educational system has become an abject failure.
Recently, while in Russia, U.S. President Barack Obama said, “The future does not belong to those who gather armies
on a field of battle or bury missiles in the ground.”
This ignores the entire history of civilization. It is criminally naïve. The future, just as in the past, will belong to whoever
has the greatest military with the financial power and the willingness to use it.
Ronald Reagan said:
“Freedom is never more than one generation away
from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in
the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected,
and handed on for them to do the same, or one day
we will spend our sunset years telling our children
and our children’s children what it was once like in
the United States where men were free.”
And as John Adams warned,
“Democracy [unlimited majority rule] never lasts long.
It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There
was never a democracy that did not commit suicide.”
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
U.S. National Security Strategy
The Anglosphere -- The English-Speaking World:
The U.S.A., Britain, Canada, Australia, & New Zealand
American Nationhood & American National Sovereighty:
The United States of America as a Single Sovereign Nation-State:
Potecting & Preserving American National Independence,
America's Common National Culture & Identity,
& American National Interests
The American Nation & Its Common National Culture:
Political Culture, Patriotism, & American National Identity:
The Basic Values, Beliefs, & Traditions Characteristic
of American Society & Its Civic Culture
United States Immigration, Assimilation, & National Security Policy:
Immigration into the U.S.A., Legal & Illegal Aliens,
& U.S. Border Control
Alan Caruba is a veteran business, science and political writer, a Public Relations Counselor, and Founder of the National
Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly commentary,
"Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center, which is located at
www.anxietycenter.com.
Caruba has a daily blog at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com.
Caruba’s most recent book, Right Answers: Separating Fact from Fantasy, has been published by Merril Press. Books
previously authored by Caruba include A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam, The United Nations Versus the United States: The
UN's Plan to Control Planet Earth, and America: A Nation Without Borders -- A Pocket Guide to Immigration Issues.
© Alan Caruba 2009
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity