This is a weekly thread in which we read through books on and related to imperialism and geopolitics. Last week’s thread is here.
The book we are currently reading through is Empire’s Workshop by Greg Grandin. There are two main editions, to my knowledge: the original one with a yellow cover from 2006, and an updated version from 2021 with an orange cover. I am reading the latter version.
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This week, we will be reading Chapter 3.
Next week, we will be reading Chapter 4.
I’m always on guard for the present-day parallels while reading through these books, and for this week’s chapter, all I can really say is: imagine the present day US allowing countries around the world more political/economic sovereignty? Such a voluntary imperial decline wouldn’t necessarily have to be all that terrible for everybody involved if it was managed - though a LOT of capitalists would still lose a LOT of money. Of course, such a hypothetical, while interesting to consider, isn’t all that helpful as the US administration regardless of party seems to pick a different country each week to threaten with invasion or sanctions.