ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explores the empire and the international order that presents a critical examination of how useful the concept of empire is for understanding varieties of international order across time and place. The Nexon and Musgrave uses as a springboard, the fact that 'American Empire' was also a hot topic during the early years of the George W. Bush administration in the United States. One of the most useful things about empires is that they can take us out of our familiar political universe of state boxes, interstate relations and intergovernmental institutions into a very different world of political forms and possibilities. As is the case with 'globalization', the meaning of the central concept of 'empire' is still extremely contested, which allows for much loose and confusing talk and writing about the subject.
