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The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
About national and international power in the "modern" or Post Renaissance period. Explains how the various powers have risen and fallen over the 5 centuries since the formation of the "new monarchies" in W. Europe.
Paperback, 704 pages
Published
January 15th 1989
by Vintage
(first published 1987)
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Back when I was in college, I felt the need for a course that looked at how economics, politics and warfare all combined to form statecraft. I never got to take that non-existent course, but got what I wanted in "Rise and Fall of Great Powers."
Paul Kennedy wrote a 500-year history of grand strategy in world history, as first one European empire followed by another tried to achieve the perfect synthesis of absolute security and prosperity, and in the process scaring the hel...more
Paul Kennedy wrote a 500-year history of grand strategy in world history, as first one European empire followed by another tried to achieve the perfect synthesis of absolute security and prosperity, and in the process scaring the hel...more
Kennedy is the man. There's not much else to say. Sure, the thesis is "simplistic" or "schematic" or "deterministic" or whatever other bombastic term pseudo-intellectuals (and legitimate intellectuals alike) choose to use, but one has to understand that the project of this book is to make some sort of reasonably defensible generalization about what leads to the fall of great powers throughout history. That's not exactly easy. No single explanation will be perfect. B...more
As Kennedy puts it in his "Introduction," "This is a book about national and international power in the "modern"--that is, post-Renaissance--period. It seeks to trace and to explain how the various great powers have risen and fallen. . . ." And, on the same page:
"The `military conflict' referred to in the book's subtitle is therefore always examined in the context of `economic change.' The triumph of any one Great Power in this period, or the colla...more
"The `military conflict' referred to in the book's subtitle is therefore always examined in the context of `economic change.' The triumph of any one Great Power in this period, or the colla...more
Ben Sweezy
is currently reading it
So far I've been pretty frustrated by Kennedy. His introduction lays out a fairly simplistic set of reasons purporting to explain why the West "rose" and the East did not.
China: Orientalist despotism, a unitary China, the decision to scrap the treasure fleets, persecution of merchants, an ethos not focused on competition or accumulation of wealth, state-directed investments.
Europe: political fragmentation, merchants could do their thing, embrace of competition and a...more
China: Orientalist despotism, a unitary China, the decision to scrap the treasure fleets, persecution of merchants, an ethos not focused on competition or accumulation of wealth, state-directed investments.
Europe: political fragmentation, merchants could do their thing, embrace of competition and a...more
The book explores the politics and economics of the Great Powers from 1500 to 1980 and the reason for their decline. It then continues by forecasting the positions of China, Japan, the European Economic Community (EEC), the Soviet Union and the United States through the end of the 20th century. Kennedy argues that the strength of a Great Power can be properly measured only relative to other powers, and he provides a straightforward and persuasively argued thesis: Great Power ascendency (over the...more
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The key determinant (@ Kennedy) is relative, not absolute decline). British GDP grew, in absolute terms, while it declined relative to the US and others. Thus do great powers ebb...
The US peaked in early 2000, though a debt bubble managed to keep things aloft for another few years.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Ch...
When China meets the US, China will be poorer on a per capita basis, but will FEEL richer as it is ascending; while the US, with a smal...more
The US peaked in early 2000, though a debt bubble managed to keep things aloft for another few years.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Ch...
When China meets the US, China will be poorer on a per capita basis, but will FEEL richer as it is ascending; while the US, with a smal...more
I used this book as a main source for my diplomatic history courses in university, but I would definitely read this book if I have known about it before the course.
The language is not so complicated to understand which iis the most important thing that I look for in the historical books. It did not make me feel like "What is he talking about, actually?". The nations, events, wars, consequences were all so clear and reasonable.
The only thing that I'm still concerned ...more
The language is not so complicated to understand which iis the most important thing that I look for in the historical books. It did not make me feel like "What is he talking about, actually?". The nations, events, wars, consequences were all so clear and reasonable.
The only thing that I'm still concerned ...more
While this tome is undoubtedly a seminal work of history, its arguments are fatally flawed and ultimately unsatisfactory. His attempt is really to determine why Europe emerged as the leader of the international system in the 20th century as opposed to other traditional power centers in Asia and the Middle East. In the end, he never gets to the "ultimate question," which was the enchanting goal of Jared Diamond's "Gun's, Germs, and Steel." Kennedy spends a lot of time harpi...more
Secara populer, lebih berupaya melihat bagaimana AS dapat muncul pasca PD II sebagai kekuatan dunia. Peran Jepang sebagai junior partner AS di Asia Pasifik juga disinggung. Peranan industri otomotif Jepang yang diberikan oleh AS untuk memasok kebutuhan Perang Korea. Seingat saya, itulah saat pertama ada truk tentara bermerk Toyota. Juga sempat hadir di Indonesia truk serupa itu.
Point penting lainnya, ekonomi, dan pertahanan sangat bertalian, termasuk didalamnya R&D yang memungkinkan ...more
Point penting lainnya, ekonomi, dan pertahanan sangat bertalian, termasuk didalamnya R&D yang memungkinkan ...more
Mark Singer
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
world-history,
soviet-union,
renaissance,
politics,
history,
european-history,
economics,
britain,
china,
europe,
france,
germany,
japan,
russia,
military
I read this shortly after it was published in 1988. Kennedy was trying to create a unified theory that would explain the rise and fall of empires by emphasizing the intertwining of economic growth and military expansion. In brief, the long term projection of military power becomes prohibitively expensive and the state comes crashing down. Kennedy makes a good argument but his writing style is a bit convoluted. Also, his last concluding predictions fell a bit flat.
This study of the economic/strategic/military power status of the various Great Powers from 1500 to the present is more descriptive that analytic. Kennedy does make some assertions about the advantage conferred in a coalition war by superior economic power and production capacity. Powers will rise and fall but their trajectories can be eased by wise choices about the allocation of resources among military, societal, and consumer needs.
Great, unique work, dear Prof. Kennedy, as always.... It is not easy to draw generalizations, obviously, on 'Great Powers' or/vs. 'empires,' anyway. But to the extent scientifically possible, this has been done excellently in this work, looking at the past 500 years. Still, I'd guess, it is extremely difficult to draw conclusions that would apply for each and every contemporary or future 'great power'...
The book is full of facts and information, it just isn't a book you can wrap up next to the fireplace with. It was difficult at times to stay focused and to be honest I had to speed read threw several sections. It does have lots of references and would be a great book for someone doing research. I wouldn't recommend for just an entertainment read.
The book did make great points.
The book did make great points.
This book has managed to, to borrow the words of a reviewer, "successfully combine the scope and sweep of 'popular' history with the discriminating rigour of professional historiography".
In addition, the author managed to achieve the above in an elegant, insightful, coherent and clear manner.
However, although it is understandable that the author would repeat his main arguments to place emphasis on them, the repeated reiteration of the arguments that a country's strengths & weaknesses s...more
In addition, the author managed to achieve the above in an elegant, insightful, coherent and clear manner.
However, although it is understandable that the author would repeat his main arguments to place emphasis on them, the repeated reiteration of the arguments that a country's strengths & weaknesses s...more
Densely loaded with economic, demographic, and other historical data makes this book's conclusions all the more solid and reasonable. The book has aged well since its publication, now decades old (The small exception being the final chapter, in which he proceeds to contemplate the "approaching" 21st century). Kennedy's explanation for why different empires have risen to power and then burned out and fallen by the wayside is not cheery when one looks at America now. If anything, we see...more
Very interesting and thorough analysis of the ups and downs of the great empires of the last 500 years, from Spain to (in more modern terms) the US. The world now being multi-polar in more ways than one, its analysis may assist more in understanding the past than predicting what may occur in the future, but nevertheless a riveting book.
This isn't a light read; it's densely loaded with economic, demographic, and other historical data. That makes its conclusions all the more solid and reasonable, though, and the book has aged well since its publication, now decades ago. Kennedy's explanation for why different empires have risen to power and then burned out and fallen by the wayside is not cheery when one looks at America now. If anything, we seem to be moving faster than most along the path he described. I wish some of the p...more
just re-read for a second time, in light of the awful stuff happening in the US today: awesome book, even more poignant after 20-odd years. Humane, sociologically accurate and historically mesmerizing.
Madalina Milea
is currently reading it
Helo! Can anybody can please help me figure it out how to read this book on-line?! I can't seem to find the option that allows you to do that on the site..
Thank you!
Thank you!
Intermittently prescient review of how great powers typically come to grief when they abandon manufacturing for "paper economies." Even more relevant today.
A re-read, really. This time around, I'm impressed by how clearly he saw the emergence of the multipolar world twenty-plus years ago.
Outstanding read when you are a freshman in college. One of my favorites and in a strange way very influential on my life.
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000 by Paul Kennedy (1987)
Probably the best depiction of the history of the Great Powers.
Incredibly insightful and incredibly tough to read.
Majestic. Sure it's dated, but so much sharp debate still revolves around the international political economy it clarified and made explicit long ago. And from 1988, it was already speculating on the staggeringly large and growing US public and foreign debt.
An essential work on foreign policy.
A great book, a IR studies' reference.
Jeff Reeves
is currently reading it
good so far
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Paul Michael Kennedy CBE, FBA (born 1945), is a British historian specialising in international relations and grand strategy. He has published prominent books on the history of British foreign policy and Great Power struggles.
Kennedy was born in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, and attended St. Cuthbert's Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne. Subsequently, he graduated with first class honour...more
More about Paul M. Kennedy...
Kennedy was born in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, and attended St. Cuthbert's Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne. Subsequently, he graduated with first class honour...more
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