Category Archives: Empire

The rise, fall, repercussions and difficulties of empire

Peter Zeihan on Collapse of Russian Empire

Posted on 15 September, 2022 by alfin2101

Putin did not have to invade Ukraine. He was having one of those Peter the Great moments and he suddenly felt like having a nice satisfying conquest. The funny thing is, it had not been going too badly for Russia … Continue reading →

Posted in Empire, Peter Zeihan, Russia, Russian Collapse, Ukraine | 4 Comments

Putin’s Slav vs. Slav War Could Last Years

Posted on 7 April, 2022 by alfin2101

Putin’s War Will Destroy Russia by Nina Krushcheva … By attacking another European country, Putin crossed a line drawn after World War II – and changed the world. But he also changed Russia, from a functioning autocracy into a Stalinesque … Continue reading →

Posted in Empire, Putin, Russia, Ukraine | 2 Comments

Scarcity of Wit and the Coming Age of Chaos

Posted on 8 September, 2020 by alfin2101

Ancient empires including Greece, Rome, Egypt, and India, left behind some magnificent ruins. I wonder how soon it can be said that our civilization did the same. At the rate we are moving into the age of chaos, it may … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Doom, Dysgenics, Empire | 2 Comments

The 3 Empires of the 21st Century

Posted on 2 June, 2017 by alfin2101

Just over 100 years ago at the dawn of the 20th century, the world was awash in empires. Once strong empires such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Tsarist Russian Empire, The British Empire, The German Empire, The … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Empire, Europe, Peter Zeihan, Russia | Tagged , | 2 Comments

China’s Shaky Foundations: A World at Risk

Posted on 19 March, 2017 by alfin2101

Update: Undercover investigation reveals that despite government claims, China is digging a deeper hole for itself The world is watching China’s credit explosion, wondering how it will all end. It is a cold comfort that some of the same institutions … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Economics, Empire | Tagged | 1 Comment

Is China’s Goose Cooked? And Other Bedtime Stories

Posted on 7 March, 2017 by alfin2101

Economically, China needs a powerful recession to get rid of businesses being kept alive by loans. Politically, China can’t afford the cost of unemployment. The re-emergence of a dictatorship in China under President Xi Jinping should be understood in this … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Demographics, Donald Trump, Economics, Empire, geopolitics, Peter Zeihan, Politics, Russian Decline | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Is China’s Goose Cooked? And Other Bedtime Stories

Economically Stressed China Flirts With Nuclear War

Posted on 25 January, 2017 by alfin2101

A Chronic Economic Crisis Spurs Expansionist Impulses Deep stresses within China’s bubble economy are building, forcing Beijing to take a neoimperial posture toward weaker nations in its vicinity. Inevitably, if China expands too forcefully, it risks war of a radioactive … Continue reading →

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Here at the End of All Things

Posted on 19 December, 2016 by alfin2101

A Massive Transformation of Two Empires that Will End One World Order and Make Way for a New One to Come The United States of Stagnant Corruption The United States of America is tentatively stepping back from an interminable gray … Continue reading →

Posted in Empire, Politics, Russian Collapse | Tagged , | 1 Comment

China’s Global Economic Leadership is a Fable

Posted on 3 December, 2016 by alfin2101

China is aging, wages are rising to uncompetitive levels, capital is fleeing, and the CCP is propping up a bubble economy that is losing ground. China’s economic importance [is] falling — not rising slowly, nor staying stable, but falling. …. … Continue reading →

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Destroying These Threats Before They Destroy the Human Future

Posted on 22 November, 2016 by alfin2101

The Three Faces of Challenge Three powerful forces seek to dominate — or conquer — today’s world. Each of the three should be considered deadly enemies to an abundant and expansive human future. The tactics and strategies used to meet … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Coming Anarchy, Demographics, Disruptive Technologies, Empire, Europe, Future, geopolitics, Government, Groupthink, Human Slavery, Ideology, Idiocracy, innovation, Islam's Bloody Borders, Media | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Destroying These Threats Before They Destroy the Human Future

China Russia NATO

Posted on 6 August, 2015 by alfin2101

Corrupt, authoritarian states like China and Russia can make impressive short-term military gains but they do not have the fiscal staying power to compete in the long game of history. __ Foundations Matter Russia and China can make calamitous trouble … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Empire, Europe, Russia | Tagged , | 3 Comments

All Empires Die

Posted on 10 March, 2015 by alfin2101

“HISTORY TEACHES THREE pretty clear messages. One is that all empires die. Second, empires take a long time to die. Finally, the citizens of the empire rarely recognize the warning signs for what they are.” San Francisco Chronicle Had Sir … Continue reading →

Posted in Empire, Russia, Siberia | Tagged | 6 Comments

China Moving to Gain Control of Russia’s Oil & Gas Fields, Weapons Systems

Posted on 28 February, 2015 by alfin2101

Update: RIP Nemtsov China’s New Lease on Russia To become a superpower, China will need the energy resources and natural resources of its neighbor, Russia. It appears that China will soon get what it wants, as Russia moves to change … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Empire, Energy, Putin, Russia, Russian Collapse, Russian Oil Curse, Siberia | Tagged , | Comments Off on China Moving to Gain Control of Russia’s Oil & Gas Fields, Weapons Systems

Golden Ages and Dynamic Stability of Civilisations

Posted on 7 January, 2015 by alfin2101

The golden age of Greece depended upon trade between far-flung colonies around the Mediterranean. The golden age of Islam relied upon wealth from trade among regions of conquest, and a hub-like cross-trade and knowledge cross-fertilisation between lands in the east … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Discovery, Empire, Wealth of Nations | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

What Remains of Russia if Moscow Disintegrates in a Cloud of Toxic Gas?

Posted on 12 November, 2014 by alfin2101

What is England without London? France without Paris? Argentina without Buenos Aires? Mexico without Mexico City? Russia without Moscow? Would these countries cease to exist without their capital cities? Quite possibly — at least they would cease to exist in … Continue reading →

Posted in Empire, Russia | Tagged | 4 Comments

Grand Eurasian Empire Stumbles at the Gate

Posted on 27 October, 2014 by alfin2101

President Putin strives to project strength but he is a limited politician who, in common with so many of those who went before him, lacks the imagination and capacity to establish Russia as an admired, serious and constructive player on … Continue reading →

Posted in Empire, Putin, Russia | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Economically Strapped Dictator Threatens to Play the Nuclear War Card

Posted on 17 October, 2014 by alfin2101

Is global thermonuclear war unthinkable? Not in Moscow. As Russia’s economy takes a deep dive into a shallow pool, the Kremlin’s war planners are busy laying the groundwork for large scale global violence. Under mounting Western pressure this year, Russian … Continue reading →

Posted in Doom, Empire, Military, Nuclear War, Putin, Russia | Tagged | 6 Comments

False Hope and Fatal Despair … An Empire’s Agonal Gasps

Posted on 8 October, 2014 by alfin2101

if Russians are dying for lack of hope, as they seem to be . . . What happened to Russians over the course of the Soviet century that has rendered them incapable of hope? __ The Dying Russians Russian despair … Continue reading →

Posted in Empire, Fertility, Russia, Russian Collapse | Tagged | Comments Off on False Hope and Fatal Despair … An Empire’s Agonal Gasps

Russia and China: Just a Coincidence to be Living Near So Many Unhappy Neighbors?

Posted on 30 September, 2014 by alfin2101

Russia and China are Surrounded by Territorial Disputes That Could Become Wars China’s neighbors, for example, “are going on a military spending spree:” China shares a land border with more countries than any other nation on earth — and it … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Empire, Military, Russia, Siberia | Tagged , | Comments Off on Russia and China: Just a Coincidence to be Living Near So Many Unhappy Neighbors?

The Empire, Long Divided, Must Unite; Long United, Must Divide

Posted on 24 September, 2014 by alfin2101

Nations are fictions which exist only as long as the right people continue believing in them. __ Attributed to Al Fin For thousands of years, one Chinese dynasty has followed another. But not every dynasty has been able to control … Continue reading →

Posted in Discontinuities, Empire | Tagged | 4 Comments

Geopolitics 101: What Comes After Pax Americana?

Posted on 22 March, 2014 by alfin2101

Image: Zerohedge.com The USA is quickly using up most of its allotted 250 years of empire. Consistent with an empire-in-decay, current US leadership is accelerating the decline of US defence forces and economic competitiveness, while increasing entitlement and social spending … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Empire, Russia | Tagged | 4 Comments

Potemkin Putin: A Slowly Collapsing Empire’s Defiant Face

Posted on 20 March, 2014 by alfin2101

Russia’s Multiple Epidemics: HIV, TB, Suicide, Alcoholism, Tobacco, Violent Crime, A Fascist Return to Totalitarianism … Among the top 20 global economies, only India, with a population almost nine times bigger than Russia’s 143 million, has more people living with … Continue reading →

Posted in Empire, Putin, Russia | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

California: From Shake and Bake to Slice and Dice

Posted on 22 December, 2013 by alfin2101

California was once the mythical land of sun and sand. A rich, fun playground for North Americans and world travelers alike, California was the model that other places tried to mimic. Image: Six Californias Initiative But over time, the gold … Continue reading →

Posted in Empire, Secession | 2 Comments

Obama Reinvigorates US Secession Movement

Posted on 14 October, 2013 by alfin2101

Disillusioned US citizens in several states have begun the process of filing for secession from either the US, or from their current state government. They have many divergent reasons for rejecting their current government, with secessionist Vermonters demanding new conditions … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Empire, Obama, Secession | 6 Comments

The Former British Colonies: An Example of the IQ Breakpoint?

Posted on 9 October, 2013 by alfin2101

The British Empire once comprised a large assortment of colonies and protectorates around the world, populated by a wide range of native peoples, colonists from more advanced nations, and imported workers from other parts of the Empire. The fate of … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Demographics, Economics, Empire, IQ | 3 Comments