On Empire

November 26, 2007
In this collection of essays, the British historian denounces globalism’s increasing economic inequalities, which in classic Marxist form, he claims burdenthose who benefit least. Not surprisingly, Hobsbawm expects developing political resistance to retard globalism’s progress in the next 20 or so years. Eventually, he implies, globalism will merely be a blip in the historically determined process of the international proletariat’s triumph. The major obstacle to that development is the United States. Hobsbawm’s America essentially has become a rogue superpower that rejects international common law in favor of what he calls “imperialism of human rights,†which, combined with a fear of terrorism, legitimates U.S. military intervention anywhere the “uncontrollable and apparently irrational†U.S. government decides. Hobsbawm contrasts the “instability, unpredictability, aggression†of the American pattern with an earlier, more measured, economically based British version that he considers almost benign by comparison (and is a far cry from his earlier writing on the subject). His loathing for American reliance on “politico-military force†to pursue global ambitions as unlimited as they are undefined has reached new depths. This erudite polemic may appeal to the intellectual left, but is unlikely to change many minds outside that sphere.

February 1, 2008
An 'minence grise in historiography, Hobsbawm here expresses his views about the future direction of international politics in four essays. Readers familiar with his works will not be surprised bythe stern criticism of the U.S. powerwithin the international system. Imputing to this countrys leaders a desire for world supremacy, which, if it exists, Hobsbawm deems doomed to failure, he approaches his conviction from a different angle in each piece. His method is historical, ashe adduces reasons why even long-lasting empires have not endured, some failures stemming from inherent resentments between ruler and ruled and others from national/ethnic fault lines that empires overlay but do not obliterate.At present, economic globalization, the internal collapse of postcolonial states, and the increasing power of China militate against any powerachieving global hegemony. The implication of these factors for war and peace, as Hobsbawm argues in frequently caustic terms, is an unstable international future in which the U.S. is the most immediate threat to world peace. A small volume for igniting big discussions.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)