Why America is not a new Rome / Vaclav Smil.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smil, Vaclav.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Power (Social sciences)--United States.

Power (Social sciences).

Power (Social sciences)--Rome.

World politics--21st century.

World politics.

Comparative civilization.

United States--Civilization.

United States.

United States--Foreign relations.

United States--Economic conditions.

United States--Social conditions.

Rome--History--Empire, 30 B.C.-476 A.D.

Rome.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (239 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : MIT Press, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

An investigation of the America-Rome analogy that goes deeper than the facile comparisons made on talk shows and in glossy magazine articles.America's post-Cold War strategic dominance and its pre-recession affluence inspired pundits to make celebratory comparisons to ancient Rome at its most powerful. Now, with America no longer perceived as invulnerable, engaged in protracted fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and suffering the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, comparisons are to the bloated, decadent, ineffectual later Empire. In Why America Is Not a New Rome, Vaclav Smil looks at these comparisons in detail, going deeper than the facile analogy-making of talk shows and glossy magazine articles. He finds profound differences.Smil, a scientist and a lifelong student of Roman history, focuses on several fundamental concerns: the very meaning of empire; the actual extent and nature of Roman and American power; the role of knowledge and innovation; and demographic and economic basics--population dynamics, illness, death, wealth, and misery. America is not a latter-day Rome, Smil finds, and we need to understand this in order to look ahead without the burden of counterproductive analogies. Superficial similarities do not imply long-term political, demographic, or economic outcomes identical to Rome's.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Preface

Part 1 America as a New Rome?

I Nihil Novi Sub Sole

Part 2 Why America Is Not a New Rome

II Empires, Powers, Limits

III Knowledge, Machines, Energy

IV Life, Death, Wealth

Part 3 Why Comparisons Fail

V Historical Analogies and Their (Lack of) Meaning

Notes

References

Name Index

Subject Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-262-28829-X

1-282-54198-6

9786612541988

0-262-28388-3

OCLC:

586147551