“Notwithstanding the damage which western imperialism did to many of the societies in other parts of the world, the exports and general economic growth of these societies do appear to have benefited most when the industrialized nations were in a period of expansion. Less-developed”
― The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
― The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
“Conquest has made me what I am and only conquest can enable me to hold my position.”
― The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
― The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
“The cause of this transformation, effected by the Meiji Restoration from 1868 onward, was the determination of influential members of the Japanese elite to avoid being dominated and colonized by the West, as seemed to be happening elsewhere in Asia, even if the reform measures to be taken involved the scrapping of the feudal order and the bitter opposition of the samurai clans.39 Japan had to be modernized not because individual entrepreneurs wished it, but because the “state” needed it. After”
― The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
― The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
“Omnidirectional peaceful diplomacy” is all very well for the present, but how useful will it be if an overextended United States does withdraw from its Asian commitments, or finds it impossible to protect the flow of oil from Arabia to Yokohama? How”
― The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
― The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
“A large military establishment may, like a great monument, look imposing to the impressionable observer; but if it is not resting upon a firm foundation (in this case, a productive national economy), it runs the risk of a future collapse.”
― The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
― The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
Kevin’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Kevin’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Kevin
Lists liked by Kevin








































