PLAN DE COURS

THE CONCEPT OF EMPIRE FROM ROME TO THE EUROPEAN UNION

Teacher: Pierre Dubouchet Academic year 2016/2017 - Fall Semester

Course Description

From the Roman Empire to the Napoleonic Empire, from the American “Empire” to its Soviet rival, empires come in many shapes or forms. In spite of vast historical and geographical differences, the continuing use of this terminology points to its relevance in past and present political analysis. The goal of this course is to better understand the concept of empire through the study of successive incarnations of this political phenomenon. Using examples ranging from the very classic variations (Rome, the Caliphate, or Tsarist Russia) but also more contemporary avatars (colonial and post-colonial imperialism, or the idea of a world order), this course seeks to illustrate how empires are born, conquer, thrive and disappear in different civilizational ensembles. Each session will therefore elaborate on a particular empire to detail certain aspects of the concept, along 4 main thematic modules: (i) empires: body, mind and sword; (ii) empires and space; (iii) critique, opposition and extinction of empires and (iv) empires in a globalized world.

Sessions

Session 1 – General introduction & course organization

Foreword. Syllabus. Methodology. Gradation. Miscellaneous.

Recommended readings throughout the course

Herfried Münkler, Empires, the logic world domination, Cambridge, 2007. Peter Frankopan, The silk roads: a new history of the world, Alfred A. Knopf, 2016. Anthony Pagden, The Burdens of Empire: 1539 to the present, Cambrigde University Press, 2015. Dominic Lieven, Empire: the Russian Empire and its rivals, J. Murray, 2000. Odd Arne Westad, Restless Empire – China and the World since 1750, Basic Books, 2012. Jane Burbank & Frederick Cooper, Empires in world history: power and the politics of difference, Princeton University Press, 2010.

In French:

Maurice Duverger, Le Concept d’Empire, PUF, 1980. Gabriel Martinez-Gros, Une brève histoire des empires, Seuil, 2014.

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I – Empires : body, mind and sword

Session 2 – Alexander the Great and the Hellenization of the world

Greek institutions. The Greeks and the Persians. Athens and the hegemon of the Delian League. The epic of Alexander. Hellenization : spread of a culture or adaptation ?

 Exposé: The Peloponnesian War  Exposé: The conquests of Alexander the Great, 331-323 BC

Session 3 – The Roman Empire, rise and fall

Rome and Greek influence. From Kingdom to Republic to Empire. Judaïsm and Christianity. The unraveling of the Roman Order.

 Exposé: Rome and Christianity  Exposé: Why did Rome fall?

Recommended reading

Mary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, Liveright, 2016.

Session 4 – The Islamic Caliphate(s)

Islamic worldview and conquests. Arabs in a Muslim world. Rival dynasties.

 Exposé: Ibn Khaldun – the man and his ideas.  Exposé: Al Andalus – Islam in Spain, 8th – 15th centuries.

Recommended readings

The Cambridge History of Islam Volume 1A: The Central Islamic Lands from Pre-Islamic Times to the First World War, Cambridge University Press, 1977. Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, Belknap Press, 2010. Anthony Black, History of Islamic Political Thought, Edinburgh University Press, 2011.

Session 5 – Christendom on the road

The long fall of the Roman Empire. Western Europe Vth – Xth centuries. Rome and Byzantium. Christanity and Islam.

 Exposé: The Crusades – a story of faith, money, or fame?  Exposé: The 1204 Sack of Constantinople

Recommended reading

Thomas Asbridge, The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land, Ecco, 2011.

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II – Empires and space

Session 6 – Empire of the steppes: disruption and continuity

Genghis, his conquests and his offshoots. René Grousset’s theories on steppe empires. Sedentary and nomad lifestyles.

 Exposé: Genghis Khan and his successors  Exposé: The Mughal Empire

Recommended readings

René Grousset, The Empire of the Steppes, Rutgers University Press, 1970. John Richards, The Mughal Empire, Cambridge University Press, 1993

Session 7 – The era of great discoveries and new silk roads

Old and new worlds. Early colonial experiences. War at sea. The dynamic of capitalism ?

 Double exposé: Portuguese and Spanish at sea (XVth – XVIth centuries)

Recommended reading

Peter Frankopan, The silk roads: a new history of the world, Alfred A. Knopf, 2016.

III – Critique and extinction of Empires

Session 8 – The Ottoman Empire

Turks between the Arab and European worlds. Tradition and modernization. The Balkans. Turkey at the crossroads between rival empires.

 Exposé: The Ottoman Empire and its nationalities  Exposé: WWI and the breakup of empires

Recommended readings

David Fromkin, A Peace to End All Peace, Holt Paperbacks, 2009. Eugene Rogan, The fall of the Ottomans – The Great War in the Middle-East, Basic Books, 2015. Sean McSeemin, The Ottoman Endgame: War, Revolution, and the Making of the Modern Middle East, Penguin, 2015.

Session 9 – The Russian Empire

Russian Empire and the Great Game. From the Old Regime to the Soviet Regime. Soviet domestic and international policies.

 Double exposé: Was the USSR an Empire?

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Recommended readings

Martin Malia, The Soviet Tragedy: A History of Socialism in Russia, 1917-1991, Free Press, 1995. Dominic Lieven, Empire: the Russian Empire and its rivals, J. Murray, 2000.

Séance 10 – The French and British Empires: colonial variations

Colonial societies. Liberation movements. The heritage of colonization and decolonization.

 Exposé: French Algeria.  Exposé: The United Kingdom and Europe.

Recommended readings

Niall Ferguson, Empire – The Rise and Demise of the British World Order, Basic Books, 2004 Robert Aldrich, Greater France: a history of French overseas expansion, Macmillan, 1996.

III – Critique and extinction of Empires

Séance 11 – The US, “empire of liberty” (T. Jefferson)?

From colony to colonial power ? The American worldview through the centuries. The end of history ? The US, NATO, and the EU.

 Exposé: Isolationism, interventionism.  Exposé: An Empire of Liberty?

Recommended readings

Niall Ferguson, Colossus – The Rise and Fall of the American Empire, the logic world domination, Penguin, 2005. Henry Kissinger, World Order, Penguin, 2014.

Séance 12 – The New Silk Roads

China’s comeback. Trade and influence. Economic integration and the return of the geopolitical risk. The EU, the Eurasian Union, and others.

 Exposé: China’s One Belt One Road policy.  Exposé: The EU in a neighborhood of crisis.

Recommended reading

Absorb and Conquer – an EU approach to Russian and Chinese integration in Eurasia, ECFR Report, 2016.

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