REVIEW ESSAY

Empire, Global Resistance and its Limitations

Francis Shor, Dying Empire: U.S. Imperialism and Global Resistance, New York: Routledge, 2010.

Pepijn van Houwelingen
Royal Holloway, University of London

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has expanded and solidified its hegemonic position in the international system. In Dying Empire: U.S. Imperialism and Global Resistance, Francis Shor argues that American global predominance may be coming to an end, pointing to grassroots resistance movements around the globe. This sheds some light on the contradictions engendered both abroad and domestically by great power politics, but Shor’s focus on a specific model of non-violent resistance reveals a liberal bias that ultimately falls short of explaining the dynamics that direct global politics. Nonetheless, Dying Empire provides a refreshing look on US foreign policy and highlights some important aspects of the current political order.

The full article is available as a PDF document: click here.

© borderlands ejournal 2010