The Long View 2003-01-09: The Imperial Gazette Speaks
While criticism of the Iraq war is now commonplace, still only cranks seriously contest the way the United States conducts its global business in any systematic way. Everyone simply assumes this is the way it has to be, and most of the arguing is about who is going to be in charge and what goals they should be pursuing. I think this speaks to John's vision of the world as being largely correct: we really are approaching the point where some kind of universal state will again emerge, and right now the United States is acting as the executive of that embryonic state.
The Imperial Gazette Speaks
The New York TimesAmerican Empire (Get Used to It)
Israeli-PalestinianRobert KaplanPeter Singer
The New York Times
The Clash of CivilizationsCanadianEmpire
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Two minor points:
The comparison between the United States and Rome has always been overdone. In some ways, the West today looks less like the late Hellenistic world than it looks like the late Era of Contending States in Chinese history. The faceoff between the US and the EU bears comparison to the conflict between the states of Qin and Qi: the argument is about legitimacy. Of course, in other ways the present situation is unique, and for the better. The West is actually more adept than other societies at substituting veiled threats and peaceful competition for actual war.
usuage
Definition: A state in an alternating Turing machine from which the machine accepts only if all possible moves lead to acceptance.
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The Crooked E
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Angel
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dragon's breath
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