War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires

by Peter Turchin

The concept of collective solidarity, or asabiya in Arabic, was Ibn Khaldun’s most important contribution to our understanding of human history. The theory is described in his monumental The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History. Asabiya of a group is the ability of its members to stick together, to cooperate; it allows a group to protect itself against the enemies, and to impose its will on others. A group with high asabiya will generally win when pitched against a group of lesser asabiya. Moreover, “royal authority and general dynastic power are attained only through a group and asabiya. This is because aggressive and defensive strength is obtained only through ... mutual affection and willingness to fight and die for each other.” In other words, a state can be organized only around a core group with high asabiya. By acting in a solidary fashion, the members of the core group impose their collective will on other constituents of the state and thus prevent the state from falling apart.