Why America is not a new Rome - Vaclav Smil

America's post--Cold War strategic dominance and its pre-recession affluence inspiredpundits to make celebratory comparisons to ancient Rome at its most powerful. Now, with America nolonger perceived as invulnerable, engaged in protracted fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, andsuffering the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, comparisons are to the bloated,decadent, ineffectual later Empire. In Why America Is Not a New Rome, Vaclav Smillooks at these comparisons in detail, going deeper than the facile analogy-making of talk shows andglossy magazine articles. He finds profound differences.

Smil, a scientist and alifelong student of Roman history, focuses on several fundamental concerns: the very meaning ofempire; the actual extent and nature of Roman and American power; the role of knowledge andinnovation; and demographic and economic basics--population dynamics, illness, death, wealth, andmisery. America is not a latter-day Rome, Smil finds, and we need to understand this in order tolook ahead without the burden of counterproductive analogies. Superficial similarities do not implylong-term political, demographic, or economic outcomes identical to Rome's.