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World domination (disambiguation)

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Alexander the Great
Philip II of Spain
Napoleon Bonaparte
For other uses, see World domination (disambiguation).

The concept of world domination has long been a popular theme in both history and fiction. The quest for global domination is colloquially referred to as taking over the world and there are single individuals in both history (for example, Alexander the Great) and fiction (for example, Khan Noonien Singh, a villain from Star Trek), who have attempted to take over the world.

Ideologies advocating world domination

Religious ideologies advocating world domination

Proselytising religions such as Islam and Christianity are universalist, viewing it as their task to convert as many people as possible to their religion, without restrictions on national or ethnic origin. This spiritual domination (see, for example, Kingdom of Heaven) is usually by most people seen to be distinct from a temporal domination, but certain fringe groupings within these religions have an established goal of global theocracy.

Political ideologies advocating world domination

Similarly, some devoted adherents of many different ideologies, such as anarchism, democracy, communism (especially Trotskyism), Nazism, neoconservatism, social democracy, liberalism or libertarianism view their credo as the ideal form of societal organisation, and actively encourage its implementation throughout the world. The period of the Cold War in particular was seen as a period of intense ideological polarization across the globe, with supporters of the two rival camps expressing hope that their ideology would emerge triumphant over the other and become the pre-eminent form of government worldwide. Elements within the allied blocs led by the Soviet Union and the United States accused each other of having objectives of global domination.

After the end of the Cold War, and the Soviet Union's collapse, Francis Fukuyama in The End of History predicted that liberal democracy would become the favoured form of government throughout the earth. This period was called by some the new world order.

Arnold Toynbee's concept of a universal state

Before modern times, the reach of political control and military force was limited by rudimentary transportation technologies and knowledge of geography. The Roman Empire had goals of global domination, and indeed the empire was able to conquer most of the "known world" (i.e., the Mediterranean) throughout its long history. The Qin and Han dynasties as well as the Tang of China were also successful in conquering the known world of Chinese civilization. Historian Arnold Toynbee used the term Universal State to refer to an empire like the Roman Empire or Chinese Empire that conquered the entire world known to a particular civilization. [1]

Examples of universal states

Persian Empire

The Persian Empire was the world's first great empire. At its height in 525 BC under Cyrus II the Great, it was Earth's first sole superpower.

Macedonian Empire

The Macedonian Empire was formed as a result of Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire. At his death in 323 BC it encompassed most of the world that was known to the ancient Greeks.

Mauryan Empire

Ashoka the Great of India, after defeating the Kingdom of Kalinga in the Kalinga War and witnessing the bloodshed that resulted from the war, renounced violence, and at the height of his empire in 250 BC adopted Buddhism. He became a person who is sometimes regarded as the most enlightened ruler throughout history and envisioned a world governed by the compassionate eightfold path of Buddhism, sending out missionaries from Ancient India to as far as Ancient Rome and Egypt.

Roman Empire

As noted above, the Roman Empire at its height in under the emperor Trajan in 117 AD had conquered the entire area of the Greco-Roman civilization.

Arab Caliphate

The Arab Caliphate, which reached its maximum extent in the 8th century, had as its express goal the conquest of the world for and by Islam.

Mongol Empire

The Mongol Empire (Mongolian: Их Монгол Улс, meaning "Greater Mongol Nation"; 1206–1405) was the largest contiguous land empire in history, covering over 33 million km² [2] (12 million square miles) at its peak, with an estimated population of over 100 million people. This was one-third of the population of Earth, thus making the Mongol Empire the sole superpower of its day. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan in 1206, and at its height in 1294 under Kublai Khan, it encompassed the majority of the territories from East Asia to Central Europe. The Mongol Empire was the first empire to use paper money on a large scale (it had been issued on a smaller scale in China as early as the 6th century AD).

Ming Empire

In the 15th century, the Ming Empire of China was the dominant world power--Earth's sole superpower--and the Yongle Emperor sent out beginning in 1405 under the command of the admiral and explorer Zheng He vast fleets of ships to explore and trade with Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and Africa. The expeditions continued until 1433. Had China not abandoned its huge naval/maritime program in the mid 14th century, it is possible China rather than the European powers would have dominated the world in the 16th century.

Other important empires

Spanish Empire

The nations closest to world domination in territorial terms were both the Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal when they were merged in 1580 (until 1640) during the reign of Philip II. The Portuguese-Spanish Empire covered almost all South and Central America, as well as a large area of southern and western North America, almost all African and Indian maritime territories and other important regions such as the Philippines, the Netherlands (known as Spanish Netherlands), and a significant portion of the Italian peninsula. Other territories included the Mediterranean islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Malta and the North African cities of Oran, Mers-el-Kébir, as well as Ceuta and Melilla which remain Spanish to this day. The Spanish Empire is also considered the first global empire in history.

French Empire

French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte had sights on global domination, and is often thought of as being the quintessential global conqueror. Napoleon saw his task as the spreading of the ideals of the French revolution and of the Age of Enlightenment throughout the world. [citation needed]

British Empire

The British Empire came closest to achieving global domination, at least in demographic and geographical terms. By the reign of Queen Victoria the British Empire had gained direct political control of about two fifths of the world's population and about one quarter of its land area, and hegemony over nominally independent areas such as parts of China and South America. British imperialist advocate Cecil Rhodes proposed that the United States and the British Empire jointly establish a world government and make English the official world language. The British Empire is generally considered to have arisen as a result of Britain's trade objectives rather than an attempt to establish military dominion, however, and was dismantled after World War II without substantial bloodshed.

Soviet Empire

File:World October revolution poster.jpg
An early Soviet poster: "Long Live World October [revolution]! The workers conquered power in Russia and will conquer the entire world"

Since the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks envisioned their regime as the first step to Communism dominating the world. The Comintern was established in 1919 in order to encourage Communist parties across the world and promote international proletarian revolution, although Stalin seemed more interested in consolidating Communist control in the Soviet Union rather than promoting worldwide revolution.

Japanese Empire

Beginning in 1931 with the invasion of Manchuria, the Japanese Empire then launched an aggressive war of conquest against China and Southeast Asia culminating, under the leadership of Hideki Tojo, in the attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor and the establishment of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere before the Empire's final defeat by the Allies in World War II in 1945.

Nazi Germany

In World War II, the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich, established what they called the New Order and had ambitious plans for directly controlling all of Europe, and then obtaining a position of power that would make them a formidable superpower in global politics. In Hitler's Second Book: The Unpublished Sequel to Mein Kampf, written in 1928, Hitler envisioned an apocalyptic air war of conquest against the United States by his successor in 1980, conducted by a great fleet of German long range bombers. At the time of the initial invasion of Russia (Operation Barbarossa) in June 1941, Hitler had expected to win victory in World War II by 1945, and he then planned, after completing the construction of the Welthauptstadt Germania plan of Albert Speer for Berlin, to hold a great World's Fair in Berlin in 1950 and then retire to his hometown of Linz[3] . Hitler's decision to declare war early on the United States in December 1941 and his defeat in Russia beginning at Stalingrad in January 1943 sealed his doom.

American Empire

Although the United States of America is a republic, it is regarded by some critics as an economic empire and some people refer to it figuratively as The American Empire to emphasize the great power and influence of the United States in the world both economically with its extensive business investments around the world and militarily with its extensive system of alliances, ostensibly to defend global trade, freedom[4], and democracy. When The American Empire is spoken of, it is meant in a metaphorical, not a literal sense.[5]

Some consider the initial establishment of the American Empire to have taken place in 1898 in the aftermath of the Spanish American War,[6] but others date its formation to 12 July 1947 with the signing of the National Security Act of 1947 by President Harry S Truman.[7][8] Truman then organized first the Rio Pact on 2 September 1947, then NATO on 4 April 1949, and finally ANZUS on 1 September 1951, thus uniting many non-communist nations into a single Western Alliance to implement the policy of containment in order to prevent the possibility of Soviet world domination. [9] A primary goal of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, was to create a Pax Americana in the American sphere of influence. In his final speech in 1960 before leaving office, Eisenhower warned against allowing the military-industrial complex to gain too much power.

In the aftermath of the Cold War, critics of American foreign policy have argued that the United States seeks, or indeed actually has, global hegemony. On September 11, 1990, the President of the United States, George H.W. Bush gave his famous speech, Toward a New World Order[1] to a joint session of the United States Congress. On September 20,2002, the George W. Bush White House posted on its website the full text of the (at that time) newest National Security Strategy of the United States, composed primarily by prominent neo-conservative Paul Wolfowitz. In this document, the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war is outlined: For introductory preface, dated September 17, 2002, see [2]; for actual complete document, the 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States of America dated September 20, 2002, see [3]. The Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war was implemented on March 20, 2003 with the launching by the United States of the Iraq War.

In February 2004, Charles Krauthammer said Americans have "acquired the largest-seeming empire in the world...even Rome is no model for what America is today. First, because we do not have the imperial culture of Rome. . .Second, we are unlike Rome, unlike Britain and France and Spain and the other classical empires of modern times, in that we do not hunger for territory. The use of the word “empire” in the American context is ridiculous. It is absurd to apply the word to a people whose first instinct upon arriving on anyone’s soil is to demand an exit strategy. I can assure you that when the Romans went into Gaul and the British into India, they were not looking for exit strategies. They were looking for entry strategies." [10] He went on to say that America was not an imperial power [in the traditional sense], but a commercial republic. Today, the United States is often called Earth's sole superpower.

The economic system of the "American Empire" is generally called neoliberalism, which some critics say is the domination of the economy by multinational corporations but with free competition among them so that new corporations with new inventions and technology that are more efficient can replace older less efficient corporations.

Possible future means of world domination

Western Imperium

Some Neo-Nazis advocate the establishment of an autocratic state to be called the Western Imperium after what they call the Zionist Occupation Government of the neoconservatives is overthrown. This proposed autocratic state would be led by a dictator-like figure and include all areas inhabited by the Aryan race (defined as non-Jews of European ancestry) i.e. Europe, Russia, Anglo-America, Australia and New Zealand, and southern South America. This concept is based on a 1947 book called Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics by Francis Parker Yockey.[11] It is envisioned that combining the nuclear weapons of the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France into a single force would give the Western Imperium an overwhelming military advantage, giving it world domination.

Anarchist world confederation

Ironically, some calls to unite anti-globalization movements around the globe may be also seen as utopian attempts by anarchists to take over the world from multinational corporations. Some anarchists, green anarchists, Greens, and Libertarians envision an anarchist world confederation, i.e., the abolition of all presently existing nations and the institution of a worldwide system of about 1,000 locally autonomous province sized local regions or bioregions that are largely self-sufficient and engage in mutually beneficial free trade for needed commodities not produced locally; however, no region would dominate any other region, and although there would be no central authority such as a world parliament, presumably the regions would consult with each other on matters of mutual interest. Some believe it might be necessary to have a small cooperatively managed green world police force like the United Nations peacekeeping forces in order to prevent the possibility of a warlord arising in one of the regions and attempting to dominate other regions (it is presumed that by the time the confederation is set up, there will have been total nuclear disarmament).

Many anarchist, Green, and Libertarian political theorists (such as green anarchist John Zerzan [4]) maintain that an anarchist world confederation is inevitable because after Peak Oil (expected to occur before 2010), there will not be adequate natural resources for any group to achieve world domination. [5] (An alternative theory is referred to as the "hydraulic empire" theory, which argues that it is when resources are scarce that dominating central authorities emerge.)

The economic system of an anarchist world confederation (criticized by some as a comic book view of the subject) [12] is envisioned by anarchists and green anarchists as being anarcho-syndicalism, i.e., a system in which all businesses are owned by the workers, and cooperatively managed by the workers themselves; thus, under this system, there are no bosses. [13] Libertarians advocate an economic system of laissez-faire capitalism for the confederation. Greens advocate a "mixed economy" with both systems co-existing. [6]

World Federation

The World Federalist Movement advocates the establishment of a democratic World Federation by mutual agreement of the nations of the United Nations. This World Federation is usually envisioned as being governed by a World Parliament that would meet at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland which would consist of about 1,000 members elected by district, and a World Supreme Court which would meet at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands. [14] The executive branch of the World Federalist government would be administered by the head of government, the Prime Minister of the World Parliament; no major World Federalist group has as yet proposed that there be elected also a President of Earth to be the head of state of a United Earth.

Supercomputer world domination

In 2005, futurist and transhumanist Ray Kurzweil published his book The Singularity is Near. This book maintains that by 2025, most manufacturing will be done on a largely local basis using nanofabricators. Kurzweil further predicts that over the next 40 years, human beings, by the incorporation of nanobots into their metabolisms, will gradually evolve into immortal humanoid androids by 2045, by which time advances in computer technology (it assumed that Moore's Law will continue to hold) will allow the uploading of the minds of the vast majority of the human race (as well as the minds of the numerous humanoid robots that Kurzweil predicts will be in existence by then) into a worldwide supercomputer--an event called by Kurzweil the Singularity. Kurzweil envisions that those who are uploaded into the supercomputer will be able to live forever in virtual reality (possessing virtual reality bodies [ avatars ] that can be morphed into any desired form), as well as possessing vastly expanded super-intelligence. Kurzweil believes that the supercomputer will expand outward into the Solar System and convert a significant percentage of the matter in the Solar System into carbon nanotubes (the material out of which the supercomputer will be made). Then, Kurzweil predicts that a massive fleet of small starships manned by nanobots (programmed to replicate additional supercomputers utilizing the matter of other star systems) will be sent out to colonize the Milky Way Galaxy. [15] [16]

Alien Invasion

Main article: Alien invasion

The alien invasion is a common theme in science fiction stories and film, in which a technologically-superior extraterrestrial society invades Earth with the intent to replace human life, or to enslave it under a colonial system, or in some cases, to use humans as food.

Board Games

  • The popular board game Risk is often labelled as the "world domination game" or the "game of global conquest", though the German version was banned in that country until the goal of the game was changed to 'liberating the world', rather than 'conquering'.
  • The board game Summit was a popular game among board game players of the 1960s and 1970s that allowed one to strive for world domination.

Computers

  • Linus Torvalds, developer of Linux, has also described his goals as "world domination, fast." Because of the ubiquity of Microsoft products in the computing world, company founder Bill Gates has often been parodied as seeking world domination.

Film

  • World domination is often perceived to be the most common plot line in the James Bond movie series. However, in actuality, the villain is much more likely to demand ransom money than seek global hegemony, something that has happened only three times. *In Dr. No, the famous spy is already weary of foes who seek to dominate the globe and calls it "the same old dream". In the Austin Powers movie series, arch-villain Dr. Evil attempts to blackmail the world for ransom, but plans to destroy and/or dominate it anyway.
  • The 1970 science fiction film The Forbin Project depicts a scenario in which a supercomputer tries to take over the world.
  • The The Matrix-trilogy, which started in 1999, shows a world dominated by intelligent machines around the year 2199. In this dystopia, mankind is used as an energy source for the machines, which systematically breed humans and harvest their biochemical power.

Music

Science Fiction

  • Global domination is frequently used in some science fiction stories (e.g., Star Trek) as a desirable, praiseworthy, and inevitable step in the progress of human civilization (though in this case it is achieved by co-operation, not conquest). Others treat it as the sinister ambition of the story's villain. This in turn is often a source of parody, frequently in cartoons such as Pinky and the Brain in which a super-intelligent lab mouse and his dim-witted cohort pursue elaborate schemes to take over the world that inevitably end in failure. The cartoon's famous catchphrase is: "Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?" "Same thing we do every night, Pinky: Try to take over the world!"

Television

Video Games and Computer Games

References

  1. ^ Toynbee, Arnold A Study of History--Volume XII: Reconsiderations London:1961--Oxford University Press Pages 308-313 "Universal States".
  2. ^ http://www.hostkingdom.net/earthrul.html
  3. ^ Speer, Albert Inside the Third Reich New York:1970--Macmillan P.139
  4. ^ Zakaria, Fareed The Future of Freedom:Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad New York:2003--W.W. Norton
  5. ^ Bacevich, Andrew J. (Professor of International Relations, Boston University) American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy Cambridge, Massachusetts:2002--Harvard University Press
  6. ^ Zinn, Howard A People's History of the United States New York:1980--Harper Perennial Page 295
  7. ^ Vidal, Gore The Decline and Fall of the American Empire Berkeley, California: 1993--Odonian Press Page 28
  8. ^ http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/cwr/17603.htm
  9. ^ Acheson, Dean Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department New York:1987--W.W. Norton
  10. ^ Krauthmammer, Charles An American Foreign Policy for a Unipolar World, 2004 Irving Kristol Lecture, AEI, posted February 12 2004
  11. ^ See Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and The Politics of Identity New York: 2002--N.Y. University Press-- Chapters 4 and 11 for information about the proposed Western Imperium
  12. ^ In the Underground comic Anarchy Comics #3 (July 1981), there is a science fiction story by Jay Kinney in which a late 1970s punk rocker time travels to the year 5000, at which time Earth is organized as an anarchist world confederation.
  13. ^ Albert, Michael Moving Forward: Program for a Participatory Economy San Francisco:2000--AK Press
  14. ^ Tetalman, Jerry and Belitsos, Byron One World Democracy: A Progressive Vision for Enforceable Global Law San Rafael, California:2005--Origin Press
  15. ^ Kurzweil, Raymond The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology New York:2005--Viking Penguin ISBN 0-670-03384-7
  16. ^ The 1970 science fiction film The Forbin Project depicts a scenario in which a supercomputer takes over the world.

See also

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