“Stephen M. Walt”:http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/07/13/ten_lessons_on_empire tells us about his holiday reading.
bq. As I mentioned awhile back, I devoted a good chunk of my vacation out west reading Piers Brendon’s The Decline and Fall of the British Empire, 1781-1997. As you might imagine, I spent a lot of time thinking about possible parallels and lessons for America’s current global position, just as English imperialists spent a lot of time pondering the Roman experience (ably documented by Edward Gibbon).
Funnily enough, my own beachside reading last week had insights relevant to this question. I finally got around to reading Iain Banks’ (who should _never_ be confused with that disreputable science fiction writer, Iain M. Banks) _The Steep Approach to Garbadale._ Much of the plot revolves around the possible sale of a British game making company, most famous for producing a boardgame called _Empire!_ back in the glory days of the British Imperium, to a big American company, providing Banks the occasion for many sardonic comments about the UK-US relationship, including the following:
bq. The USA, not surprisingly, proved reluctant to accept Empire!; sales were miserable. Henry tried a version of the game based on a map consisting only of the contiguous states of the US, but that did little better. Finally, he bought up a small printing firm in Pittsburgh, so that the box and board could each bear the legend _Made in the USA_, altered the map of the world on which _Empire!_ was based so that the USA was centred – the boundaries of the board cutting through the heart of Asia – renamed the game _Liberty!_, changed nothing else, and watched the dollars roll in.