Empire and International Structure

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Recent debates about whether or not the United States is an imperial power have led to an upsurge in interest in the nature and dynamics of empires but comparatively few scholars of international relations have confronted the implications of taking empire seriously as a form of international order. Many of their arguments would be the same whether the United States is an empire or simply a very powerful state. The paper being presented, which was co-authored by Assistant Professor Daniel Nexon of Georgetown University, suggests that thinking in terms of imperial relations in international politics involves a major re-orientation in the way scholars analyze the structure and dynamics of world politics. The authors compare the structural characteristics of empires with those assumed in mainline approaches to systems with predominate powers, and argue that empires have different structures than those associated with unipolar and hegemonic systems — displaying significantly different dynamics than those stressed in balance of power and hegemonic order theory. These differences have major implications for the conduct of world politics. They shift attention from relations between states to relations between central authorities and various domestic actors within states. Moreover, they call attention to difficult dilemmas in imperial management involving dynamics of divide and rule, the relative autonomy of local intermediaries, and how to legitimate imperial authority under conditions of heterogeneity within the periphery. The authors conclude by sketching some possible answers to the question of whether or not the United States is an empire and suggesting some implications for U.S. grand strategy.

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