New Paper on Empire (Rightly Understood)
”Universalism and Nationalism: Thesis and Hypothesis”
I just uploaded a new paper to SSRN called “Universalism and Nationalism: Thesis and Hypothesis.” It’s a chapter for a volume on conservative perspectives on justice, being put together by the excellent Custodes Institute. The paper grew out of a previous post of mine on The New Digest called “Dominus Mundi: The Law, Politics and Theology of Empire,” although the paper has evolved quite a bit from its predecessor.
The abstract for the paper is below. The link is here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5059515.
Hope you enjoy!
I will read this with interest-particularly as a student of the Achaemenid, Alexandrian and post-Alexandrian and Roman empires-all pre-Westphalian. Two concrete issues arise at first thought: (1) the economic stimulus provided by imperial systems that allowed local ethni to thrive without homogenization; (2) the extractive nature of empires, particularly as the confronted local rebellions and/or other empires on their frontiers and the violence that ensued. These early empires encouraged local legal systems as long as they didn’t result in #2. The imperial law seems largely defined by the will of the ‘king of kings’ to use the Achaemenid language and treaties defined by the politics of harem. How this system is taken up and perfected by the rise of ‘two powers’ would prove an interesting challenge.
These pieces are fascinating - looking forward to reading it over the holidays. Thank you