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THRESHOLD: When Expansion Becomes Cheaper Than Coexistence
Not yet published
Expected 24 Apr 26This is not a history of empires.
It is an analysis of how empires become possible.
Empires are not created by ambition, ideology, or exceptional leaders.
They emerge when expansion becomes cheaper than coexistence.
This book examines the first structural phase of
the moment when growth turns from opportunity into necessity.
Using historical cases ranging from Rome to early modern commercial empires, Arc of Empire I explains how surplus, scale, and administrative alignment create systems that can no longer stop expanding without destabilizing themselves.
This is not a narrative of conquest.
It is a study of cost structures, incentives, and irreversible commitments.
The book does not offer lessons, prescriptions, or moral judgment.
It maps the mechanics that make empire possible—and dangerous.
If Book II explains why empires cannot stop, and Book III explains how they collapse, this first volume explains how the trap is set.
It is an analysis of how empires become possible.
Empires are not created by ambition, ideology, or exceptional leaders.
They emerge when expansion becomes cheaper than coexistence.
This book examines the first structural phase of
the moment when growth turns from opportunity into necessity.
Using historical cases ranging from Rome to early modern commercial empires, Arc of Empire I explains how surplus, scale, and administrative alignment create systems that can no longer stop expanding without destabilizing themselves.
This is not a narrative of conquest.
It is a study of cost structures, incentives, and irreversible commitments.
The book does not offer lessons, prescriptions, or moral judgment.
It maps the mechanics that make empire possible—and dangerous.
If Book II explains why empires cannot stop, and Book III explains how they collapse, this first volume explains how the trap is set.
68 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication April 24, 2026
About the author
Alexander Capatana
15 booksAlexander Capatana writes history as structure—not as myth.
His work rejects the “Great Man” narrative and focuses on the mechanics that make outcomes inevitable: industrial capacity, coordination costs, administrative overload, and systemic lock-in.
His central thesis is simple:
History does not turn on decisions—decisions turn inside systems already in motion.
Wars continue not because leaders insist, but because mobilization becomes irreversible. Empires collapse not because they are defeated, but because scale becomes too expensive to maintain.
Capatana’s books explore the hidden layer beneath events:
War as throughput
Diplomacy as theater
Victory as irreversibility
Empire as constraint
Collapse as accounting
He writes for readers who want the real logic behind war, empire, and power—without moral mythology, nostalgia, or ideological noise.
His work rejects the “Great Man” narrative and focuses on the mechanics that make outcomes inevitable: industrial capacity, coordination costs, administrative overload, and systemic lock-in.
His central thesis is simple:
History does not turn on decisions—decisions turn inside systems already in motion.
Wars continue not because leaders insist, but because mobilization becomes irreversible. Empires collapse not because they are defeated, but because scale becomes too expensive to maintain.
Capatana’s books explore the hidden layer beneath events:
War as throughput
Diplomacy as theater
Victory as irreversibility
Empire as constraint
Collapse as accounting
He writes for readers who want the real logic behind war, empire, and power—without moral mythology, nostalgia, or ideological noise.
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