The new empires

: conquest and subjugation in the 21st century

Abstract

International relations scholarship applies the terms “empire” and “imperialist” primarily to the post-World War II foreign policies of the United States and the fallen European great powers from the 19th-20th centuries. This fixation not only ignores the global nature of imperialism but has also left territorial acquisitions in the 21st century relatively unexamined. Conquering, non-Western powers have risen in the modern era that have come to shape, if not dominate, the international system and thus merit academic attention. The goal of this dissertation is to contextualize the actions of these states in the history of empires and will examine the Republic of Turkey, Islamic Republic of Iran, and People’s Republic of China primarily alongside the Second German Empire, Spanish Empire, and Venetian Republic, respectively. From these and other imperial analogies, the hope is that readers will be able to determine patterns of imperial behavior and glean from international relations history mechanisms by which to detect and counter their actions. More succinctly, this thesis will posit that empires bearing similarities in their arrangement, construction, maintenance, and geopolitical context can develop in much the same fashion. Furthermore, the findings of these comparisons support the conclusion that the 21st century will witness a resurgence of empire – in contrast to the imperial retraction of the 20th – and be known for its conquest, colonialism, cultural imposition, as well as economic exploitation in which liberal states will struggle to preserve the principle of self-determination.

Date of Award	1 Jul 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	Christopher Charles Ogden (Supervisor) & Phillips O'Brien (Supervisor)